Author: Angelina
Translator: xallisonjanex
Proofreader: KainGuru
After working for a while, Mai Ding had gradually adapted. He even knew a lot of the senseless gossip at the office because all the women would gossip if they had nothing to do, so Mai Ding more or less heard them a bit. It turned out that most women were indispensable to gossip, whether they were in school or they have entered society.
He knew which couple was shady in the office. He knew the manager"s wife was a young woman, who was twenty years younger than the manager. They said she was his second wife. He knew who had failed on their blind date. Regardless, it all had nothing to do with work. No one wanted to talk about work. All the work in this company was repet.i.tive and boring. Mai Ding was doing the same thing every day. Of course, for something important, Gao Guo would not give it to him — an intern.
The manager"s young wife came in and was gorgeously dressed. Of course, Sister Hua would not miss the opportunity to fawn on her. Sister Hua was the woman Mai Ding talked to on the first day he came to the company. She had been working in the company for a long time. She enthusiastically said: “You"re dressed like a princess on TV today. It really doesn"t look cheap. It seems very expensive.” A princess would not be dressed like that, but the manager"s wife seemed to enjoy it. “I asked my friend from Hong Kong to bring it back here."
“I"d look terrible in it. Pretty people look good in anything.” Sister Hua"s flattering words made the manager"s wife even more proud. The manager"s wife touched her collar with her fuchsia crystal fingernails and said: “How can you afford it." The manager saw his beautiful wife had come to the office, and with a smile on his face, he ran out to welcome her. The manager was in his forties, he was stout and short, his double chin was pressing together, and when he stood next to his wife, they looked like a bulldog and a poodle. The manager"s wife wrapped her arm around his, “I missed you. I went to the mall today and saw a pair of shoes that I like.” The two spoke as they walked into the office and closed the door.
“What are you doing?!” Gao Guo took some files and patted it on Mai Ding"s table. Mai Ding quickly withdrew his attention. He bit his lips and did not dare to look into Gao Guo"s eyes. Even though Mai Ding had tried hard to satisfy Gao Guo, Gao Guo seemed to find him unpleasant and he was always very fussy toward Mai Ding. However, Mai Ding had nothing to hate Gao Guo for. If he really did good at work, Gao Guo would not be hypercritical. So, in his final a.n.a.lysis, his ability was still not enough.
When Gao Guo went out to meet with a client, Sister Hua kindly came to comfort Mai Ding: “You don"t need to take it seriously. He"s always like that, as if everyone owes him money. It"s no wonder no woman wants to date him despite being in his thirties.” Although Sister Hua behaved like a sordid merchant, she was still considered warm-hearted.
“Maybe he likes men.” Mai Ding simply spoke out another possibility before he realized that he should not have said it out. When he was trying to fix his mistake, Sister Hua laughed. She swayed back and forth as she laughed, "Ha ha! I didn"t expect your mouth can also mock people.”
“I didn"t mean it like that.” Mai Ding quickly wanted to explain.
“It"s okay, don"t worry, didn"t I just say something bad about him, too? I won"t carelessly tell anyone else.” Sister Hua"s words made Mai Ding"s chest feel tight. Is liking a man considered a form of mockery in the eyes of others? Is it considered derogatory in the eyes of others? He did not say anything. He did not want to argue with Sister Hua, nor did he want to argue with anyone. Really, it was not necessary.
This matter… you could not convince others about, just like how they could not convince you.
Their opinions were not that important to Mai Ding.
When Gao Guo returned, his complexion had become even more gloomy. He probably did not succeed in negotiating with the client and threw all his anger onto Mai Ding, "You still haven"t finished working on the new task I gave you earlier?”
“It"s almost done.”
“What have you been doing the whole afternoon, mingling to get paid? Just leave if you don"t want to work.” Gao Guo was irritated. He took a cigarette out of the cigarette case. Mai Ding only looked down and hurried up. However, he would not think of himself as a sad and pitiful protagonist. Everyone would sometimes encounter a very bad-tempered person at their work. Everyone would be inevitably scolded by their superiors. As a man, these things were totally bearable. Perhaps, it was all thanks to An Ziyan. Mai Ding was severely tested by his words on a daily basis. Compared with An Ziyan"s ridicule that could drag down the national economy, Gao Guo"s words were nothing.
Mai Ding unconsciously thought about him again. He hurried up to get things done so he could go home. He was such a terrible person. Every day, he wanted to quickly see An Ziyan and he could hardly bear the twenty-minute walk home. His own brain was definitely broken!
By the time Mai Ding finished his work, there was no one left in the office. He stretched out his body and sat for twelve seconds before he slowly walked downstairs. As soon as he went out, he saw two faces that he disdained. He pretended not to recognize them and just walked forward.
“Yan asked us to pick you up for dinner.”
Mai Ding stopped when he heard An Ziyan"s name and pretended that he just noticed the two, "Well, look who we have here. It"s Zhou Ge and Ellen. You have the time to have dinner besides taking aphrodisiacs?” He contemptuously looked at the two who were lovey-dovey as they hugged each other. In all honesty, at first, Mai Ding thought Zhou Ge was just a playboy and relied on money to fool around with Ellen. Unexpectedly, they were not only together for a long time, but they were also always in the pa.s.sionate stage of love that was unbearable for people.
“Baby, Mai Ding envies us.” Zhou Ge stroked Ellen"s slender waist and made her laugh right away. This was exactly why Mai Ding did not want to be with them. They always made him feel like they were in the red light district. Mai Ding got into the back seat on his own, “Why didn"t An Ziyan come by himself?”
“He said he didn"t want to waste gas money," Ellen said as she got into the car.
“I"ve never seen him be so frugal before!"
The car drove to a restaurant where they frequented. Zhou Ge and Ellen would often invite them to come to this place. Mai Ding did not mind this, he could skip cooking and save money. However, he also did not feel it was necessary to travel this far all the time just to eat. Just after they sat down, An Ziyan came with an unwilling cold expression on his face and once he had sat down, he leaned against the back of the chair.
“Ugh, you guys are screwed. Your marriage life has entered the burnout period.” Zhou Ge shook his head as he stroked Ellen"s hair, who was leaning on his shoulder. Ellen jeered by his side, “I knew that Mai Ding had no charm.”
"It"s got nothing to do with me. Don"t insult my good reputation. He"s always been like that. He only raises some interest when we"re alone.”
An Ziyan shot a glance at Mai Ding, “Do you have any complaints?”
“I…" Take the courage and rebel against him! Mai Ding cheered himself in his heart. While on one side, Zhou Ge and Ellen fanned the flame, "Quarrel! Divorce!” This time, An Ziyan glanced at the couple in front of him, "Who said this is your time to talk, disgusting couple.”
“You should at least give us some nice nicknames!” Zhou Ge complained. The opportunist, Mai Ding, felt that the nickname was very suitable for them.
When the food came, Mai Ding did not hesitate. While eating, he said, “Xiao Si will be graduating soon and will come back, right.”
"She said she didn"t want to return anymore. After you s.n.a.t.c.hed An Ziyan from her, she didn"t have the courage to live. Moreover, she didn"t want to see you. She wanted to wander around, waiting for an incident to befall on you, then she"ll get back together with An Ziyan to compose a love song."
“Can"t she make up something more convincing? I"m sure she just wanted to have some fun, just like someone I know, tsk tsk.” Mai Ding did not mention the name of that person, but as he shook his head, he looked at An Ziyan. However, each of Mai Ding"s words did not have any effect on An Ziyan. He then asked Zhou Ge, “I already found a work unit for my internship, how about you, what"s your plan?"
“Don"t compare yourself to me, okay.” Zhou Ge sneered and with a smug tone, he said, ” My family"s rich. Of course, I"m going to be a happy second generation.” And he really had the nerve to say so! Mai Ding, as an insignificant commoner, wanted to rush forward to grab Zhou Ge"s throat and strangle him to death. He then looked at An Ziyan with suspicion. He should not have the same thoughts as Zhou Ge. Soon after that, he gave An Ziyan an earnest and well-meaning advice, “You mustn"t learn from him. You have to find your own value. Look at those great men…” Mai Ding stopped. He wanted to mention names that he could use as a good example for An Ziyan but after a while, he could not think of any.
“Don"t pretend to be an intellectual if you"re not reading a lot of books.” An Ziyan saw through him and often hit on Mai Ding"s sore spot.
“I just can"t remember all of the sudden!”
Seeing both of them bickering again, Zhou Ge and Ellen could not stay idle as well: "Quarrel! Divorce!”
“Even if one day you"ll be poisoned by taking aphrodisiacs, we"re not getting divorced!!" Mai Ding said, and he also wanted to get himself a reinforcement, “Right, An Ziyan?"
“Isn"t it that there"s a lot of procedures for filing a divorce?" An Ziyan did not respond to his question. Mai Ding did not react to An Ziyan"s question and stupidly answered him, "I heard that it looks like it… no, why are you asking this kind of question?!"
“Then I"m not going to divorce you, it"s too troublesome."
“Must your answer always take the route that won"t make me happy?” Mai Ding sulked and lightly kicked An Ziyan under the table.