Chapter 5
New Beginnings
His neighbor, the "bird nest" little brother, sat at his desk, hugging his eagle specimen in his arms, and waved at him: "Brother, if you have any difficulties you can contact us. We are all brothers, don"t be a stranger.”
Ye Wenxuan sealed up his cartons, then raised his head and smiled at him: "I"ll remember those words. If I really need to find you for help later on, you can"t avoid me ah.”
Little brother: "Huh, how could we!”
Ye Wenxuan: "Then I will see you again if fate permits.”
Little brother: "Ah…if you"re free give us a call!”
Everything was packed up and shipped to his rental apartment. Ye Wenxuan only considered for a few minutes, and then handed everything untouched to the delivery service company, with the address his parents" home far away in W city.
If he"s going to B city, those designer tools would basically not be necessary.
As for the things inside his rental apartment, the furniture and electronic appliances were all here originally, the only things that needed to be removed would be some clothes and some knick-knacks. In the few days remaining, he could just mail the things over to B city and let Li Shaoyun receive it for him, and then later on he could rearrange them in the room that the Special Affairs Department had arranged for him.
When Yue Hao arrived at his home, he happened to see him sending off several delivery service little brothers carrying boxes.
Yue Hao was stunned: "How many days has it been, you"re moving too fast ba? I thought that when you said you were going to resign, you would at least need to hesitate for a few months, at the very least…you would need to send out all of the work that you had?!”
"I already handed them over." Ye Wenxuan clapped his hands and invited him in: "I"m leaving on the 28th. These few days I"ve been busy to death at the office, every day I"ve been tired into a dog. Yesterday I finally settled all of my clothing design orders.”
Yue Hao: "Didn"t you just receive a big business order last week?”
Ye Wenxuan: "Oh, the business flew away, it was transferred to a different team.”
"Isn"t that just because you suddenly resigned, I guess that your team must have suffered a huge shock. These few days when you go out be careful of being kidnapped." Yue Hao walked in and threw himself unceremoniously on the sofa: "You…this is too sudden. Something"s not right, why do I feel like there"s something sketchy here.”
Ye Wenxuan: "En?”
"Your speed in cleaning up is too fast, just like you have something else that you have to do. You must have found another job." Yue Hao suddenly approached him, winking: "What kind of relationship do we have, come come, tell brother, where is your next job?”
Ye Wenxuan pushed him away: "I"m really not job-hopping, I want to rest for a period of time.”
He hesitated a bit, and then said: "I"m going to be going to B city, not home. Don"t say random things to other people, I told them that I"m going back to W city.”
Yue Hao: "B city? F*k, the old rival of SFLS has a branch there, and you"re still saying that you haven"t been poached!" The two people studied the same major, Yue Hao right now could also be considered a small famous designer. Naturally, he was very clear about where those well-known companies were located.
Ye Wenxuan laughed in spite of himself: "Really not.”
Yue Hao looked like he still didn"t believe him, but he saw that Ye Wenxuan didn"t want to keep talking about this, so he also just stopped trying to probe him, changing the subject: "What are your plans later, are you going to return to S city?”
"I haven"t decided." Ye Wenxuan hesitated: "I guess…if there"s the opportunity, I will return ba.”
"Then," Yue Hao thought, and hesitated: "I have some brothers working in B city, if you decided to go there, then if you have any matters you can go ask them for help. When I go back I"ll let them know. Your flight is on the 28th? I"ll let them go pick you up.”
Ye Wenxuan smiled: "No need, I have people picking me up. Don"t worry, I won"t get lost.”
Yue Hao had no way, so he could only punch his shoulder and say helplessly: "All right then, I know that once you make a decision, no one can change your mind. What time is your flight three days from now, I can take some time off and send you.”
Ye Wenxuan: "9 in the morning, thanks.”
Yue Hao: "Thanks for what. My dear brother, it"s what I should do.”
At night the two people went out to find a restaurant close by, eating and chatting. Yue Hao wanted to open a bottle of mao tai, but was stopped by Ye Wenxuan: "I"m just going to drink beer, if you want mao tai then you drink it yourself.”
"No way, drinking by yourself is no fun." Yue Hao couldn"t believe it: "Ye zi ah, why do I feel like recently you haven"t been too right ah, you"re resigning and giving up drinking…oh, I know!”
He suddenly leaned over, mysteriously saying: "Have you that, found a mate, and you"re trying to replan your way of life?”
Ye Wenxuan scoffed: "It"s not like you don"t know I"m x cold.”
Yue Hao winked: "Don"t say that, being x cold doesn"t mean you can"t date, you definitely must have started dating! Say it, is that lady in B city, are you guys planning to live together?”
Ye Wenxuan perfunctorily said: "I don"t like ladies, you"re thinking too much.”
Yue Hao: "Ai ya, then it"s a man?”
These artistic people, most of them didn"t care about being h.o.m.os.e.xuals, heteros.e.xuals, or bis.e.xuals. For them, beauty wasn"t restricted by nationality or gender. Even if you like a pot of flowers, they probably wouldn"t express too much fright or judgment, they would generally choose to respect it.
For example Yue Hao this item, he was a bis.e.xual, both males and females were possible, nothing is taboo.
Ye Wenxuan glanced at him: "As a menswear designer, I only appreciate them, but I don"t like them, thank you.”
Yue Hao said with disapproval: "Ye zi, you can"t be like this. You"re already 26, for better or worse you should find a partner.”
"During college so many handsome men and beautiful girls. .h.i.t on you, but you said that you wanted to study well and not date. You"ve already worked for over three years, I"ve already changed my boy/girlfriends six times, but why do you not even have half a bit of movement?”
Ye Wenxuan raised his beer and toasted him: "I"m x cold.”
Yue Hao: "…F*k.”
Then he stopped mentioning living together or finding a partner.
On September 28th, Ye Wenxuan entrusted the subsequent trivial procedures for the rental apartment to Yue Hao to finish processing, and then said goodbye to the over ten friends who had especially come to send him off. Then he turned and entered the security area.
He wore a light long-sleeved shirt and some casual trousers, with a backpack loosely hanging on his body. A mobile phone stuffed in his trouser pocket, headphones hanging around his neck, he seemed like a college student traveling light, boredly boarding the plane along with the crowd.
Black framed gla.s.ses covered most of his handsome face, but there were still several girls constantly looking back at him. Ye Wenxuan simply removed his gla.s.ses, pulled out a sleeping mask and put it on, closing his eyes to get some rest.
2.5 hours of flying later, when he opened his eyes again, in his ears was the gentle reminder of arrival of the flight attendant.
Ye Wenxuan pulled off the blindfold and rubbed his face, sitting back up.
Right at noon, the plane landed at the capital airport.
Ye Wenxuan walked out the airport exit. Not long afterwards, his phone rang. He picked up the call, sure enough, it was the person who Li Shaoyun had dispatched to pick him up.
He smoothly met up with the other person, then followed him to a Jeep parked next to the curb, and then they drove all the way downtown.
Midday in the capital should be one of the worst times for traffic congestion, but when Ye Wenxuan looked out the window, he found that the road was un.o.bstructed, and the number of cars around them was also pitiful. He couldn"t resist asking: "I heard that traffic in the capital is particularly crowded, but this doesn"t seem to live up to the reputation, isn"t this quite smooth.”
The drive immediately responded: "That"s because you just happened to come at a good time. These two days, there"s going to be an international economic forum held in our city, so travel within the two rings is restricted every day. Now it"s lunchtime, the people in the city hall there will all be going out to eat lunch, so the roads have been sealed. You see, the traffic policemen are all patrolling the roads.”
Ye Wenxuan had seen them long ago. He had also heard that B city would be hosting an international conference these few days, but he didn"t think that it would be in this situation.
Seeing the barricade in front, he frowned: "We don"t need to take a detour?”
The driver brother smiled at him: "No need.”
Sure enough, the traffic policemen in front looked at their license plate then stood straight and saluted, directly letting them through.
"This morning we already contacted their boss, for us this road will be kept unimpeded.”
Ye Wenxuan: "Oh…”
Not long afterwards they reached their destination, as expected it was an imposing and prestigious building. The location was actually not in a military base like Ye Wenxuan had expected, but instead in the Chang"an street, right next to the a.s.sembly hall.
At the main entrance there was no door plate or number, just a gigantic emblem.
At the gates the driver little brother showed his doc.u.ments and filled out a form, and then parked the car in the designated position. Then he opened the door and also conveniently opened the door for Ye Wenxuan: "Mr. Ye, please come this way.”
The two people entered the grand office building. The little brother led him into the elevator, and then politely said to a staff member wearing a police uniform: "Zhuang zi, 3rd floor area A, this is a new colleague.”
The policeman nodded, swiped his card and then pressed the elevator b.u.t.ton. He only glanced at Ye Wenxuan once, and then didn"t keep looking at him.
The camera in the elevator slightly turned, it was very obvious that in the control room there were people constantly keeping an eye on the situation here.
Ye Wenxuan restrained himself from lifting his head to look at the camera. He followed the little brother out the elevator and then they quickly walked through the corridor on the left side.
The little brother walked while explaining to him: "These places above the 2nd floor are all confidential, if you don"t have the appropriate doc.u.ments you won"t be able to walk through freely, forgive ha.”
Ye Wenxuan hurriedly waved: "It"s nothing, brother you"re being too polite.”
The little brother smiled: "This time the ones who recruited you are the counter-terrorism action team. They"re on the 3rd floor area A, Shaoyun has been waiting in his office since this morning. Oh, it"s this room in front on the right.”
While speaking they walked to the door, and the little brother lightly knocked: "Shaoyun, I"ve brought the man over.”
Basically just as his voice fell, someone immediately opened the door, excitedly saying: "Mr. Ye you"ve arrived, quickly come in, let"s talk inside!”
Ye Wenxuan recognized at a glance that this was the man who had come to find him from the special department earlier and who he had seen in the power plant.
The little brother coughed: "Shaoyun, making too much noise in the building is prohibited, pay attention to self-control.”
Li Shaoyun quickly covered his mouth, awkwardly looking around the corridor. When he found that no one else was there he finally let out a breath, greeting them: "Come come, let"s go in and talk.”
Ye Wenxuan noticed that this office didn"t have a sign or a number, so he didn"t know what place he was walking into. He only knew that this was the 3rd floor area A, the counter-terrorism action group"s territory.
Li Shaoyun"s office area was not large. Inside, there were two mahogany desks facing each other, a row of filing cabinets lining the wall, and a small meeting area beside the door. This seemed not much different from most ordinary offices that he had seen before.
Looks like this office was shared by two people.
## Ye Wenxuan is x cold [actually not] ##
During university, because of Ye Wenxuan"s handsome appearance and outstanding temperament, countless people came forward to confess to him one after another.
Female student a [fresh and pure version]: "Ye Wenxuan, I, I…I like you!”
Ye Wenxuan: "For people our age, it"s too early to talk about marriage. We are still all students, learning knowledge and enriching ourselves is more important, we should work to be a socialism successor, so that in the future we can make contributions to China"s development.”
Female student a [fresh and pure version]: "Eh? Wait wait…I wasn"t talking about marriage…”
Ye Wenxuan expressed sincerely: "You need to study well.”
Male student b [campus delinquent version]: "Ye Wenxuan, lao zi has been paying attention to you for a long time.”
Female student c [top student version]: "Wenxuan, I am the best student in school, can I be in contact with you?”
Male student d [literary version]: "Xiao Ye, look at my eyes. Have you fallen in love with me?”
Ye Wenxuan: "Ai.”
He thought for a few seconds, and then said to the confessor: "My apologies, I don"t like you.”
abcd: "No problem, we like you!”
Ye Wenxuan: "Oh, then I"m x cold.”
abcd: "Ah?”
Ye Wenxuan: "Only when I"m studying can I find the feeling of burning enthusiasm.”
abcd: "…”
Ye Wenxuan: "I love studying, studying makes me happy.”
abcd: "……”
Translator Notes:
[1] untouched – 原封不动, idiom, literally sticking unmoving to the original, not changing anything
[2] stunned – 目瞪口呆, idiom, means dumbstruck, stupefied
[3] very clear – 一清二楚, idiom
[4] couldn"t believe it – 不可思议, idiom, inconceivable, unimaginable
[5] x cold – x冷淡, basically means as.e.xual/not interested in s.e.x/romance
[6] nothing is taboo – 百无禁忌, idiom, means all taboos are off, anything goes
[7] expressed sincerely – 语重心长, idiom, means meaningful and heartfelt words, sincere wishes
Random Notes:
A little over an hour: 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm, for 3.2k characters to 2.5k words. Honestly, I still do wish I could just do more summaries, bc when I"ve been translating I find that I love this story more and more, but then it also feels like when I translate it takes forever. But I guess it"s also bc I like the story so much that I find it a pity to miss any of the detail. It"s a win-lose situation, I guess.