Assistant Architect

Chapter 92: Treat

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Sitting the dark theater surrounded by Gu Yu essence, the last vestige of his dream melded into reality. In a trance, Zhang Siyi didn’t know whether or not he was still dreaming. The prince was chasing after the princess as she ran away, and the touch he felt with his hand seemed so real.

With the grogginess of sleep dissipating, his awareness became clearer and he stared at Gu Yu’s jacket on top of his hand. As he twitched his hand slightly, not only could he feel heat, but he also felt the clear contours of fingers and dry, soft skin of another hand entwined with his. Along the peripheral nerves of his fingertips, through his arm, up to his shoulder and onto his brain, all of the details became more pronounced by the sensations that his nervous system were detecting and transmitting.

Zhang Siyi froze as though he was paralyzed. Is this not what he was just dreaming? Did he unconsciously grab Gu Yu hand? As he sat up straighter, Gu Yu was watching him.

Ah, ah, ah, ah…

When he came to his senses completely, Zhang Siyi reacted strongly, and jerked his hand back quickly feeling embarrassed and ashamed. He couldn’t look Gu Yu in the eye.

“I, I…….” Zhang Siyi fumbled with his sleeves and wiped his mouth and apologized quietly, ” I’m sorry, I fell asleep……” Zhang Siyi wanted to slap himself silly. How can he react like that to a dream about the person he likes!?

In just that moment, Gu Yu’s normally controlled expressions went through a myriad of changes, from a joyous, yet frustrated smile to a disapproving and regretful smile.

The light in the theater was too dark and Zhang Siyi was still a bit confused. He didn’t know what he had missed. “I, I didn’t mean to.” Looking away, Zhang Siyi clenched his fist, and dared not look at Gu Yu again. It was really embarrassing, for God’s sake, let him die …

Gu Yu whispered a lowly “hmm” and turned to look at the screen, no longer paying attention to him.

As the clock struck twelve, the magic started to unravel and the princess, in a hurry to flee from the ball, dropped her shoe. In a panic, the prince ran after princess hoping to catch her, but instead he found her crystal slipper. With the disappearance of his sweetheart, he looked dazed and lost.

……

Since the crystal slipper represented hope, the prince had a chance to find his love. Under the common direction inherent to a fairy tale, the movie ended happily ever after.

After the movie was over, He Chengtian couldn’t prevent himself from yawning: “Shit. Why did I watch such a bad film!? It was so boring, it would have been better to sleep.”

Zhang Siyi: “…”

Since He Chengtian was sitting on the left side of Gu Yu while Zhang Siyi was sitting on the right side, He Chengtian didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary. Even if he wasn’t watching the screen, there was only Gu Yu’s jacket laying across his leg to look at. However, Zhang Siyi felt like his biggest secret was discovered. With guilty feelings and his head down, he frantically left his seat towards the aisle to exit the theater first.

He Chengtian also stood up and noticed the back of Zhang Siyi quickly and sneakily leaving. Suddenly thinking of the events before the film, he gritted his teeth. Don’t come begging for help later!

The five of them met at the entrance of the theater. Since Zhang Siyi drank coffee and slept, he had an urgent need to use the restroom. Looking at himself in the mirror he saw that his face was still hot and red. In order to splash some water on his face, he reached out to the faucet, but he suddenly stopped and stared at his left hand instead. (o////o)

Aaah. This is the hand that held Gu Yu’s hand…… I don’t want to wash it.

Secretly scolding himself ‘stupid’, he used his other hand instead and washed up.

Leaving the restroom and walking towards everyone else, he saw Gu Yu wearing his jacket, talking to the group with his hands in his pockets. He was asking He Xueying about her next plan.

He Xueying and Zhang Siyi only made plans for the early afternoon. Now that the group was larger than anticipated, she was worried about the next arrangements. Since it’s not late and knowing that her brother and Gu Yu were old classmates, she guessed her brother would propose a treat. She didn’t expect Gu Yu to invite them out.

Unexpectedly, Gu Yu spoke up: “If you don’t have anything urgent, then let me invite you to dinner.”

Catching her off guard, He Xueying was polite: “You? There is no need.”

Gu Yao was also quite surprised: “Brother, are you going to treat us?”

After giving his sister a meaningful look, Gu Yu looked at He Xueying again: “My sister has caused you so much trouble. It is the least I can do to make up for it.”

With an inscrutable expression, Gu Yao grabbed her brother’s arm like a petulant child.

Since Gu Yu offered first, He Chengtian was unhappy. Being one-upped, he was reminded of his incessant second place ranking in high school. He Chengtian purposely made things difficult and suggested: “How about Jade 36 or Li’s Court?”

He Chengtian knows exactly what kind of place Haicheng is. This is a city where material and money are supreme; money, power, and background easily divide people into the three, the six, and the nine. With the price per person in the thousands, he named two of the most famous high-end restaurants in Haicheng. He Chengtian wanted to use these two restaurants to test Gu Yu knowledge and uncover his financial status.

If Gu Yu knows these places, whether to dismiss or compliment, then he can calmly respond which means his financial ability isn’t low. Gu Yu would be able to walk in front of the city and enjoy life, however, if he does not know, He Chengtian thought he would be exposing Gu Yu’s shortcoming. He Chengtian wanted to make Gu Yu feel embarrassed. After all, even 800,000 annual salary isn’t enough to live a high-level luxury life. It is only a little higher then a normal migrant worker. Gambling on the latter, He Chengtian smiled and waited to hear Gu Yu’s response.

Instead of He Chengtian’s imagination, unexpectedly, Gu Yu scoffed and looked at He Chengtian mockingly: “Are you like a nouveau rich, blindly following over inflated trends? I heard from Siyi that you have lived in Haicheng for several years. Is there no better recommendation?”

He Chengtian: “…”

Gu Yao also asked with an inquisitive look: “Brother, what do you mean by inflated trends?”

Earnestly looking at his sister, Gu Yu schooled her: “On the internet, they are listed among the top ten most expensive restaurants in Haicheng. All the nouveau rich go to these restaurants for the sake of going to the most expensive places to eat. If you haven’t visited each of those restaurants, then you can’t claim to be nouveau rich.”

Gu Yao nodded and said: “What’s so special about being called nouveau rich? Who cares about them…… Let’s go to an affordable restaurant.

He Chengtian balked at Gu Yao statement and felt like arrows, ‘thunk, thunk’, stabbed him in the back.

Listening to Gu Yao’s statement, Gu Yu rebuked “That’s not right. Nouveau rich are people too. This issue doesn’t affect you, so don’t make improper comments. Also, when someone offers to treat you to dinner, don’t value their integrity based on the price of the food. In addition, a restaurant shouldn’t be considered good solely based on the price of the menu. As long as the food is delicious and guests eat comfortably, then the price shouldn’t matter.

Gu Yao thoughtfully nodded then said: “You are right Brother; delicious doesn’t have a price.”

Even though Gu Yu was talking to his sister, why did He Chengtian feel like he was the one getting schooled instead?

Sensing the mood, He Xueying promptly spoke to Gu Yu. Smiling she said: “Since you were kind enough to invite us, you should pick the place to eat. Let us experience the delicious tastes of Haicheng.”

[T/N: There are some interactions here that I could not translate at all. Basically, Gu Yu and He Xueying bully/tease He Chengtian and since Gu Yao already expressed her indifference for rich people, He Chengtian felt completely defeated.]

He Chengtian’s shriveled soul was laying on the ground thinking: This must be my sister’s payback from all those times we played as kids.

Gu Yu moved a small distance away from them to make a phone call. After confirming the reservations, he returned and said: “Ok. The restaurant is in the southern part of the city. Shall we take a taxi?”

He Xueying spoke up: “I drove my car. The five of us can squeeze in.”

“Sounds good.” Gu Yu nodded and letting her navigate there, he told her the address.

Walking to the underground garage, the He family really is nouveau rich. Seeing the Porsche Panorama, Zhang Siyi was excited: “Wow! Whose car is this!?”

He Chengtian pointed to He Xueying: “It’s Hers.”

He Xueying boldly winked at Zhang Siyi and offered an invitation: “Do you have a driver’s license? Do you want to drive it?”

Feeling embarrassed by his outburst, Zhang Siyi hurriedly waved his hand in refusal: “It’s been years since I drove a car. I’ve nearly forgotten.”

Since Zhang Siyi did not take the initiative to sit in the front seat, He Chengtian opened the door and sat next to his sister. The remaining three sat in the back.

Logically, the most petite person should sit in the middle but thinking of her match-making plan, Gu Yao let Zhang Siyi get into the backseat first, then walked around to the other side and let herself in. As a result, Zhang Siyi was squeezed in the middle.

The events that happened in the theater are fresh on his mind, now sitting next to Gu Yu again, Zhang Siyi felt awkward. To ease his tension and to keep his mind occupied with something other than touching him, he mustered up the courage to talk to Gu Yu: “Have you eaten at Jade 36 and Li Court?”

Gu Yu: “Well, I have been there before when I did a special study on restaurant design.”

Zhang Siyi: “…” That is something Gu Yu would do…

Hearing about the most expensive restaurants in Haicheng, Zhang Siyi’s curiosity was stimulated and asked: “How expensive are they? Is the food any good?”

“It’s all right,” Gu Xiao smiled at him warmly and said, “Do you want to go? I’ll take you next time.”

He Chengtian: “…” Why is the treatment so different? ( =皿= )

He Xueying: “…” Zhang Siyi, are you sure your decision is not because of your Boss? (=_=)

Gu Yao: “……” Hey, Brother! You’re breaking the rules! (*/ω\*)