Assistant Architect

Chapter 181: Repayment

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Gu Yu asked: “They called you?”

Supposedly, Gu Yu didn’t know that Zhang Siyi was nearby. If Zhang Siyi hadn’t seen Gu Yu being approached by many women, he wouldn’t have known he was being targeted. However, now that the girls have called and Zhang Siyi was the recipient of those calls, he ultimately learned about the many women that wanted to hook-up with Gu Yu. Did Gu Yu deliberately hand out his number to make him jealous?

Grinding his teeth, Zhang Siyi sourly said: “Yes. I think those people are interested in you. What are you going to do?”

Gu Yu grinned and said: “You decide.”

“…….” Bastard! Gu Yu himself had caused the problem and instead of solving it, he passed the responsibility to Zhang Siyi!

Feeling a little resentful, Zhang Siyi was about to retort but instead, his loud, growling stomach interrupted them. They glanced at each other at the same time. Gu Yu laughed out loud and patted his ass: “Let’s get up and eat. Do you want to go out for steak?”

Zhang Siyi: “Forget it. I’m feeling too lazy to go out.”

“Shall I make some dumplings?” Gu Yu got up and saw Zhang Siyi hiding his head. He leaned over and kissed him then said: “Put on your clothes.”

“Hmm.” While on the bed, Zhang Siyi slid on a pair of pajama pants. When he got off the bed and stood up, his legs buckled. He was reminded of how much he ‘suffered’. Shit! Gu Yu was a beast. When next they fought, Zhang Siyi absolutely couldn’t rely on this method to solve it!

As he reached the bottom of the staircase, Zhang Siyi’s legs buckled again. Fuck! Gu Yu hasn’t even apologized for his rough treatment!

Fighting between each other was just too emotionally taxing and to some extent, physically exhausting as well. Zhang Siyi was even hungrier than he thought and as a result, he wolfed down delicious dumplings and seaweed soup. It didn’t matter whether or not he ate a steak. Even a simple meal became fine dining. What was truly important was the ability to eat together while enjoying each other’s presence.

After gorging himself on food, Zhang Siyi didn’t want to move. Eventually, he brazenly put his chopsticks down and pushed his plate back. He supported his waist and slowly walked back upstairs to his own room. Gu Yu understood that Zhang Siyi was ‘bearing the pain of happiness’ and let him go back to his room alone to rest.

Burrowing into the blankets in bed, Zhang Siyi wrapped them around himself and hunkered down until his head was only showing. He took out his phone and wondered what he should tell Su Yuan. Of course, he didn’t tell her about his true relationship with Gu Yu, but informed her that the director could evaluate her portfolio and suggest a company she could apply to that was suited her abilities.

Su Yuan didn’t expect Zhang Siyi to take her matter to heart, let alone make inquires on her behalf on the same day. Grateful, she thanked him sincerely and said she would prepare a collection of work as a soon as possible. Now that the issue was dealt with, Zhang Siyi felt relieved. He checked in with his friend’s group chat.

They began to chat around five o’clock in the early evening. After Zhang Siyi left, he noticed they hadn’t stayed out for very long. Ren Mengyu was asking the group what they thought of her boyfriend.

Jiang Hai: “Very good….. handsome, rich, and elegant.”

Tian Yujing echoed him: “Yes. I think you are a very well matched.”

Ren Mengyu listened very happily and made a cute cartoon expression in the group.

What? Was Zhang Siyi the only person that felt her boyfriend was stingy? More than two hundred worth of coffee and he actually asked Zhang Siyi to pay. (T/N: 200 Yuan = ~ 28USD/26Euro)

Jiang Hai added: “But I feel he is a bit mysterious. When we had a lunch today, he didn’t say anything about himself.”

Inwardly, Zhang Siyi agreed with Jiang Hai’s assessment. As they talked, Bai Rui only listened. If he wasn’t so good looking, they wouldn’t have even known Bai Rui existed.

Intuitively, it was difficult for Zhang Siyi to draw a couple’s equal sign between Bai Rui and Ren Mengyu.

Unlike Tian Yujing, when Jiang Hai first brought her to their apartment to meet, she left a very vivid impression on Zhang Siyi. As for Bai Rui, he gave Zhang Siyi the feeling he was Ren Mengyu’s wallet more than anything else. In addition, this wallet wanted Zhang Siyi to share the cost! (=_=)

“That’s how he is. When I’m with him, he rarely mentions work because he says he doesn’t want to mix life and work.” Ren Mengyu explained.

Jiang Hai: “Ah. That explains it.”

Even though Ren Mengyu explained it clearly, Zhang Siyi wasn’t convinced. During their lunch together, Bai Rui was only introduced as a boyfriend and never revealed anything about himself. Wasn’t it normal to briefly introduce yourself by telling about their career and position? All the information that the group knew about him was already provided by Ren Mengyu in private.

According the Ren Mengyu, in addition to having an extremely good background, he had his own company. Aren’t these all very good talking points? But, Bai Rui said nothing about it. Mulling it over, Zhang Siyi came up with two reasons for his behavior. One, he didn’t want the group to get to know him, or two, he didn’t want to further integrate himself into Ren Mengyu’s life. Either way, it’s not the attitude that a normal boyfriend would have.

Bai Rai attitude reminded Zhang Siyi of Gu Yu because he also keeps a clear division between his work life and private life. In front of others, Gu Yu is quite the mysterious figure.

However, their similarities end there. Everything that Gu Yu has, his diary, friend’s circle, daily life etc.…. was willingly shown to Zhang Siyi without reservation. In front of Zhang Siyi, Gu Yu is a person without secrets. Therefore, when Ren Mengyu admitted her ignorance when it came to Bai Rui life, Zhang Siyi felt that something about their relationship wasn’t quite right.

Although he really wanted to express a few concerns, he thought about what Gu Yu had told him before and decided it wasn’t his place to say something. He wasn’t an emotional expert and could be wrong. What’s more, even if they could meet together again despite everyone’s busy schedule, he didn’t know if he would come in contact with Bai Rui in the future.

In addition, even though Zhang Siyi wanted to complain about Bai Rui stingy behavior, talking poorly about someone behind their back wasn’t in good taste. Struggling with his ideals and not wanting to cause a problem, Zhang Siyi gave up his idea and simply sent a blessing in the group chat instead.

As he closed the group chat, he saw an extra red dot in his WeChat contacts. It usually means a user has requested him to be a friend. After he clicked on the dot, he was very surprised. The person wanting to add him as a friend was none other than Bai Rui!

Zhang Siyi was puzzled. Why does Ren Meng’s boyfriend want to add him as a friend? They weren’t familiar with one another. One lunch together hardly counts as close enough to being called friends. Zhang Siyi hesitated. Does he accept or decline?. After all, his real friend, Ren Mengyu, was the one with the relationship.

The avatar that Bai Rui used was an abstract art painting and his nickname was Vinci. Looking at it, Zhang Siyi didn’t know whether the choice was personal or was it related to his profession. He didn’t particularly understand it, but that didn’t matter since he had no interest in knowing.

After verification, Bai Rui sent an expression: [Smiles]

After acknowledgement, Zhang Siyi sent a ‘handshake’ expression then wondered: “How do you know my social media page?”

Bai Rui returned with three words: “Oh, you guess.”

Eyes twitching, Zhang Siyi thought to himself ….. Can’t you just answer me! Why do I need to guess?

Being with Ren Mengyu, Zhang Siyi subconsciously eliminated the thought that Bai Rui was gay, but the literal tone of his three words really made Zhang Siyi suspicious. How can a straight man talk to another man in that tone? Was Zhang Siyi a little girl? (=_=)

Thinking back to this afternoon, when Bai Rui produced his QR code for the payment from WeChat, did Zhang Siyi leave any information behind? With his previous use of the app to transfer money, he was only able to see a nickname and avatar. There wasn’t a way to know the account name in order to make a friend request. Was the answer so simple to Bai Rui’s question; ask Ren Mengyu?….. Ah fuck!

Zhang Siyi bluntly asked: “You didn’t ask Ren Mengyu, did you?”

Bai Rui replied with a transfer. [WeChat Transfer – ￥250.00] “For this afternoon’s coffee.”

Bai Rui added: “My girlfriend was angry so I needed to return the coffee money back to you. [Smiles]”

Zhang Siyi: “…..”

Zhang Siyi: “No need. It was just a few cups of coffee.”

Although Zhang Siyi thought Bai Rui was rather petty in the afternoon, Zhang Siyi didn’t let Bai Rui’s actions bother him. However, unlike Zhang Siyi, this little matter made Ren Mengyu upset. As it turned out, now that she has fallen in love, Ren Mengyu turned into a spoiled princess.

Zhang Siyi thought Bai Rui had been instructed by his girlfriend and would therefore be forced to give it.

When Bai Rui read Zhang Siyi’s message he wrote back: “Ok then.”

It was unexpected. Zhang Siyi hadn’t moved an inch when Zhang Siyi saw his reply. Zhang Siyi felt like he was punched in the face. Didn’t Bai Rui just say his girlfriend coaxed him? Why did he give up?

Bai Rui quickly replied: “Alright, accept the payment and give it back. Otherwise, I have to wait for the system to issue a refund and it takes more than twenty-four hours.”

Zhang Siyi eye twitched. Fuck, what the hell! He can’t wait twenty-four hours?

He silently collected the money and then issued a return of two hundred-fifty. However, he hasn’t yet seen Bai Rui accept the payment.

Zhang Siyi had a bad feeling: “It’s your turn to confirm the payment.”

Bai Rui: “Oh never mind. You can keep the money. I won’t accept yours.”

Zhang Siyi: “…….” Fuck! His original speech was a ruse! (#°Д°)

Zhang Siyi: “What? Why are you doing this!” [Going Crazy]

Bai Rui: “[Smiles]”

In just a few minutes, Zhang Siyi’s was unwillingly taken on a roller coaster ride. Clearly it was payback money, but it was being bounced around like a hot potato. Zhang Siyi felt like he was being deceived and it made him feel very uncomfortable.

Even though Zhang Siyi was frantic to resolve the issue about the money, Bai Rui seemed to be completely indifferent.

He was so exasperated that he didn’t know what to do to resolve the issue cleanly. Suddenly, he thought of a solution. “Ok. But, the six cups totaled only two-hundred-fifteen and not two-hundred-fifty. I can’t keep the thirty-five extra that you gave me.” No matter what, Zhang Siyi didn’t want to take anything extraneous from Bai Rui.

Bai Rui replied: “Don’t worry. Just think of it as my gift to you.” [Smiles]

Zhang Siyi: “……” What the Fuck! Why is he doing this!? It’s so stupid! (╯‵□’)╯(┻━┻