13 – A Change in PerspectiveRen Zhouyuan"s entire face was flushed red as he pretended to calmly hold the ma.n.u.script. Standing less than half a meter from Leonid, he could smell the cologne on his body, with a hint of a cigar, that occasionally wafted toward him. His head was in chaos, muddled like paste.
The words in front of him were clearly of his own making, but now they seemed like weird hieroglyphics. Even the Chinese characters that he always took pride in were unfamiliar.
The silence in the air was a bit awkward. He forced himself to calm down, but the hand holding the ma.n.u.script wouldn"t stop shaking
Suddenly, a large palm landed on top of Ren Zhouyuan"s hand. He froze, the shock in his heart overwhelming his anxiety. He looked up at the owner of the palm.
"Don"t be nervous, I won"t eat anyone." The owner of the palm said.
This simple sentence, it reminded Ren Zhouyuan of many memories. Five years ago, the same person said the same thing to him.
"Don"t be nervous, I won"t eat anyone." Leonid had told the uneasy Ren Zhouyuan. "You must be Mr. Meng"s translator?"
Ren Zhouyuan mentally berated the fatso for a millions times. He really had never met anyone else who would value lovers over friends1 as much as this Fatty. This fat man"s name was Meng Tian, so when he heard Leonid say this, he nodded his head. Smiling, he replied: "I"m sorry, he might be a little late because of some important matters."
"Okay." Leonid replied, followed by another bout of silence.
Ren Zhouyuan didn"t know whether all Russians were this cold, but he was a traditional Chinese man. There was no way he would show an icy, unsmiling face to someone he had met for the first time. So Ren Zhouyuan became a professional salesman that night. The target of his sales talk, however, didn"t show much of a good expression. Instead, he resembled someone watching a monkey foolishly giggling.
Ren Zhouyuan thought that since this was to help the fatty, as long as he could score this sponsor, it would be just fine. As a result, he did his best until the end. It didn"t matter when the fatso would come, Leonid couldn"t go without authorization.
When Russians didn’t have liquor, they were not happy. This matter, Ren Zhouyuan found out about it that night.
Ren Zhouyuan did not know what Leonid liked to eat, so he ordered a table according to his own taste. When the food was served, Ren Zhouyuan had no time to say "please eat," when Leonid lifted up his hand and gestured to Ren Zhouyuan. "What is China"s strongest alcoholic beverage?"
Ren Zhouyuan paused for a moment. He didn"t drink, so how could he know what the strongest alcohol was. In the end, he had no choice but to call over the shop owner. By Leonid"s request, he ordered an entire bottle of the shop"s strongest Jiujiang Shuang Zheng2.
Ren Zhouyuan silently let out a curse in his heart. He had not better get drunk in a while, or else how could he bring back such a huge bear like him back to his place.3
However he didn"t expect that the one who would fall in the end would be him.
When the Jiujiang Shuang Zheng was served, Leonid drunk mouthfuls of it like he was drinking plain water. While Ren Zhouyuan was looking at him dumbstruck, he slammed the empty gla.s.s onto the table, curling his lips and muttering to himself, "No taste."
Ren Zhouyuan swallowed his saliva. Leonid reluctantly asked him to get two more bottles, and seeing him drink with such vigor, he thought of trying it himself to see if it really had "no taste" like he said.
Watching Leonid downing mouthful after mouthful of the liquor, consuming it like n.o.body"s business4, Ren Zhouyuan called over the boss for the third time and ordered another bottle just so he could try.
When the alcohol was brought up, Ren Zhouyuan looked at Leonid and saw him raise his eyebrows before immediately lowering his head to fiddle with the bottles of liquor. The base of Ren Zhouyuan"s ears were red, feeling ashamed and angry that he was seen through. He bluntly acted as if the person in front of him didn"t exist and opened his own bottle.
However, the moment the drink entered his mouth, Ren Zhouyuan wanted to curse out "mother-f.u.c.ker." Where exactly was this tasteless? It was extremely strong! The potency of the beverage made it seem like he wasn"t drinking liquor, but rather pure alcohol!
He wanted to spit it out, but seeing Leonid watching like he was witnessing a good show, he endured the burning pain in his throat and swallowed it, making him suddenly choke and burst into a coughing fit.
However, Leonid was amused by his appearance. The face with ten thousand years of facial paralysis finally cracked a smile. He gave a thumbs up to Ren Zhouyuan, patting his back and pouring him another cup.
The last thing Ren Zhouyuan remembered was the lingering memory of Leonid"s face looking down at him, forcing him to drink more alcohol until his belly was full. Afterwards, like the plots of those old-fashioned drama shows, they messed around under the influence, and there was a baby. The only difference was that he was more capable than those people. As a man, he gave birth to an incredibly beautiful biracial child.
Recalling about these matters from the past, Ren Zhouyuan unexpectedly calmed down. The large palm on top of his hands had already been withdrawn, but the warmth they gave remained. Like the crazy things that happened that year. Even if he left them behind, the traces couldn"t easily be erased.
Ren Zhouyuan"s hands no longer shook, and he could also now focus his attention. He slowly recalled the things he wrote in the ma.n.u.script and reviewed them. After a while, he recovered himself.
"STEM was a standpoint first introduced by Western countries, but later "A" was added, namely the category of Art, so it became STEAM. After entering China, there were a lot of scholars that suggested "A" be put at the front, to let it become a model." Ren Zhouyuan sorted out the ideas in his head and explained his thoughts to Leonid. "China has a long history, and articles are often written on its traditional culture. To enter the Chinese market, I don"t believe we should imitate Europe and America unilaterally, instead we should adopt this perspective as an entry point….."
When Ren Zhouyuan began explaining, he still stuttered a bit. But as he went on, he focused more on his ma.n.u.script. His words became concise and sharp, having confidence in the contents of his own research. During this time, Leonid raised two questions. Every time, he was refuted by various arguments.
Now that he was speaking about his area of expertise, Ren Zhouyuan"s eyes lit up and the red on both his cheeks didn"t fully dissipate. His entire being was dazzlingly bright, and people couldn"t take their eyes of him.
However, while Ren Zhouyuan was enthusiastically speaking, he didn"t notice a single bit of how Leonid was watching him with the same dedication. But Natasha to the side saw, and she was jealous.
Leonid"s father and Natasha"s parents were good friends. She and Leonid played together from childhood until they grew up. Although she was also Russian, possessed the strength most Russians had, and had a strong body, she was slim and had an outstanding appearance. She had no shortage of pursuers.
Who knew whether she had s.h.i.t in her eyes or that those men were cheap, but Natasha dismissed all of those so-called pursuers. She only liked this man who was like a block of ice. Thinking of how Leonid was like this, she felt that he was a genuine man.
When Natasha first heard that her parents arranged a blind date for her, she was livid. But when she heard that the other party was Leonid, her att.i.tude underwent a 180 degree change. Even if Leonid told her that it was a covert "arranged marriage," she was still filled with joy.
However, the once cold and indifferent Leonid would actually look like this, so focused and intently watching a person? Even if it was for work, Natasha felt that it was intolerable!
She listened to Ren Zhouyuan speaking Russian as if it was grating to her ear, especially with his annoying p.r.o.nunciation of S and M. Her high heels went clack clack clack as she walked over to them. Just then, she heard Ren Zhouyuan say, "Entering the Chinese market isn"t like entering any other country. It is important to adjust to the Chinese people"s tastes and preferences."
Natasha took the opportunity to mock him. "Oh? So even though us Russians are the ones providing the money, we have to listen to what you Chinese people say? They didn’t even think of who funded them behind the scenes and who their benefactors are.5”
Ren Zhouyuan was cut off. Hearing her unkind words, he immediately wrinkled his brows. He was about to counter with a few statements when he heard Leonid say: "We make use of other people"s land to do business, so is there anything wrong with catering to them?"
Natasha was stunned. Ren Zhouyuan was also stunned. The impression this man gave off right now was like a proud delegate, akin to when they met for the first time. Ren Zhouyuan would have said more words of praise for Chinese culture, but this man"s "significance" was of a lighter one.
If these words came from another person"s mouth, he might have still been convinced. But from Leonid"s mouth, it made it a bit unbelievable.
Natasha apparently didn"t expect Leonid to slap her face like that. She suppressed her beet red face and stared at Leonid and Ren Zhouyuan for a long time. Then, she flung her long hair, turned on her heels and left the room. Before she left, she didn"t forget to slam the door, nearly making the paintings on the wall fall.
"Go on." Leonid didn"t seem affected by Natasha"s tantrum. He even looked relieved, and gestured for Ren Zhouyuan to continue explaining the ma.n.u.script.
This one day made Ren Zhouyuan feel like the entire world was a mysterious fantasy. He didn"t expect Leonid to have a fiancee. He didn"t expect Leonid would be a little different from the impression he had. He also never thought that he would say so much in front of this man.
If this man didn"t recognize him, perhaps he could no longer hide within the armor he built. He could take a step, then another step, unfettered from the past.
But thinking so, Ren Zhouyuan felt inexplicable and let out a little sigh.
The author has something to say:
Leonid: Darling, why don’t you tell me what this S and M means?
Ren Zhouyuan: ……
Corensi:*raises hand* I can tell you allll about this S and M thing. I mean, ahem. I’m too innocent for such things. Can’t you see? My blog is all pink and girly! Definitely not a disguise at all!!!
Ah, anyways, the stereotype of Europeans being strong drinkers and Asians being lightweights. I wonder, is this true? I don’t drink much, so I wouldn’t know. I mean, I’ve only tasted beer and margaritas. How about you guys?
Also, I’m going to try to include the author’s notes at the end of the chapters from now on. However, I can only do up until the end of the free chapters. The rest will have to do without the little skits. Unless…I find another raw source with the skits…or I figure out how jjwxc works….
Notes:
1 – an idiom : 重色轻友 (zhòng sè qīng yǒu) , meaning paying more attention to a lover than friends or to value s.e.x over friendship. Or in english terms, the opposite of "bros before hoes." Back
2 – This is apparently some alcoholic beverage in China. Research doesn’t reveal much, but I’ve found a few links that indeed confirms it is some sort of brewery. Click for more info, if you want. Back
3 – shoutout to RenarDusud1 on NUF for the help on this! Back
4 – too many liberties taken on this one, but I think the gist bleeds through. orig. text: 看着列昂尼德一口肉一口酒的架势，那样子吃得分外香甜. Back
5 – lots of hugs for the lovely people on NUF, Anonymousse, Lurker of the dark, Yakuson, and Magical John Smith, for the help on this line! Back