Chapter 06

Chapter 06

He doesn’t make me happy, nor do I make him happy

Xu Lian didn’t notice Xiang ChangKong. She ran for half an hour before returning to her home. After taking a shower she opened her fridge to see what she could eat. Her fridge was designed to match her kitchen decorations and was a large fridge with two doors. She remembered the salesperson saying that she could probably fit a small supermarket in it.

But Xu Lian was someone who loved cooking cup noodles the most, so her fridge regularly didn’t hold much. She took out a sandwich she had bought yesterday and an orange to juice. She planned to have a sandwich and some orange juice for breakfast today.

Before she could start squeezing the juice, her cell phone on the counter rang twice. Xu Lian looked at the screen and saw that it was a message from Wei YiChen.

Wei YiChen: I’m picking you up to have breakfast together.

Xu Lian: Don’t go out to eat, just eat at my house.

Wei YiChen: You actually have food? Did you order takeaway?

Xu Lian glanced at the screen and didn’t reply. She put down the sandwich and went back to the fridge to take out a vacuum-sealed yellow cake.

When Wei YiChen arrived, Xu Lian had just finished steaming the yellow cake. He went into the kitchen and sniffed: “What did you steam, it smells good.”

Xu Lian: “Before Zhang GuoEr gave me some fruit cake, a specialty of her hometown. I took it out specially just for you.”

“Really?” Wei YiChen grabbed the packaging from the counter and saw the expiration date: “This is expiring today!”

Xu Lian acted as if she didn’t know, saying: “Really? What a coincidence. Then you came at the right time.”

Wei YiChen: “…”

He understood that she saw the expiration date and thought it was a pity to throw away so she asked him to come over.

Although the yellow cakes were expired, it still tasted good. Sweet, waxy and glutinous, the most important thing was the filling. After eating three pieces, Xu Lian felt full.

She took a sip of her orange juice and asked Wei YiChen who was sitting opposite to her: “Did you go home and meet with Uncle Wei last night?”

Wei YiChen smirked as he replied: “Yeah, he saw me looking like a ghost, then I performed an air guitar show just for him.”

Xu Lian took another sip of her juice and said, “Your rebellious phase is quite long.”

She and Wei YiChen met in high school. To be more precise, it was more Wei YiChen targeting her during high school. When she met him Wei YiChen was already sporting the bad boy look, and many people were supporting him. But Xu Lian just wasn’t interested. She was described as ‘too lonely and unsocial’ since she was young, but she simply felt that she was more straightforward and transparent than others.

Once you become more intimate with another person, your relationship with them would just become more and more troublesome, with contradictions emerging one after the other. She didn’t like to deal with troublesome things, so she simply kept her distance. There always seemed to be an invisible line between people and Xu Lian never tried to cross this boundary. She had known Wei YiChen for many years now, and their relationship looks very good, but in Xu Lian’s heart, she had firmly stayed on the other side of this invisible line.

Wei YiChen smiled at her words: “If you can’t do what you want to do, then what’s the point of living?”

“Doesn’t it make sense to enter Uncle Wei’s company? You can be a high-ranking leader the moment you go.”

“Of course it doesn’t make sense! He doesn’t make me happy, nor do I make him happy!”

Xu Lian let that sink in for a while before nodding: “Nn.”

“…” Wei YiChen frowned: “Your reaction is too flat. Forget it, let’s not talk about this anymore, lest it affects your appetite.”

After breakfast, Wei YiChen drove Xu Lian to work with his motorcycle, giving her his extra helmet. Like the battery-powered scooter, his motorcycle also couldn’t enter the neighborhood. Because of this, Wei YiChen and the security guard aren’t very close. In fact, they almost fought each other once.

But in Xu Lian’s opinion, the fact that the security guard was willing to let him in was already the greatest benevolence given.

Wei YiChen’s motorcycle drove very fast. When they arrived at Xu Lian’s shop, she was early for more than 10 minutes. After sending her to the door, Wei YiChen left and Xu Lian opened the store, heading straight up to her workshop.

Zhang GuoEr saw that Xu Lian had actually arrived earlier than herself today. She ran upstairs and said: “Boss, you’re so early today! I thought you went to the concert last night? You should have stayed up all night!”

Xu Lian continued to work as she replied plainly: “Don’t exaggerate.”

Zhang GuoEr placed her hands on the table, looking for gossip: “What happened with you and brother Chen last night?”

Xu Lian: “After the concert, we went back to our homes.”

“Ah…” Brother Chen didn’t manage to do it Zheng GuoEr silently said in her heart. she then became curious: “Boss, what does Brother Chen do exactly?”

She had wanted to ask this question for quite some time now but didn’t dare ask Wei YiChen directly. While he could be considered pure towards Xu Lian, in the eyes of others, he was a proper idle socialite.

Xu Lian: “Have you heard of XX? I guess that’s where he works.” Otherwise, how can he support such a colorful lifestyle?

Zhang GuoEr: “…”

When she returned downstairs, Zhang GuoEr brought out her notebook and recorded: “The Boss suddenly has a sense of humor, so scary.”

Wei YiChen wasn’t really an idle socialite. After all, he has a legitimate job. He runs a small bar with several friends, and he was the honorary boss.

As for the money to open said bar, his mother gave it to him. His father wouldn’t give him a single penny since he turned 18. Fortunately, the bar was doing quite well. Wei YiChen already paid his mother back this year, and from time to time, even bought her some things to honor her. Of course, his father got nothing.

The bar was open at night and whenever Wei YiChen was in particularly good spirits, he would go up on stage and sing. Tonight, when he arrived at the bar he immediately felt that something was wrong. He went to the lounge and saw several of his brothers slouching, their faces pale and sagging.

“What’s the matter, why are you all so sad?” He walked in and threw his helmet to the sofa. “I saw a few broken tables outside, did you fight with someone?”

“It’s Zhu Bing’s grandson! He knows you weren’t here last night so he brought a few people to cause trouble!” The brother with a flat head and panda eyes stood up in anger. Because he became too excited the wound on the corner of his mouth was aggravated, making him hiss.

(T/N: Having a ‘flat head’ means being a little dumb/stupid. Basically this is Wei YiChen seeing one of his brothers as an idiot.)

Wei YiChen frowned. “Zhu Bing? Why’d he come to make trouble?”

Qingnan Lane was a famous bar street in A city and was ruled by several different forces. Wei YiChen had been following the rules of Qingnan Lane when they opened the shop, so things that shouldn’t been touched, shouldn’t been touched.

Xiao PingTou said: “Of course it’s because of his woman, she’s such a troublemaker!”

Wei YiChen looked at him and motioned him to continue.

Xiao PingTou suddnely turned red in embarrassment, coughing as he continued: “Well, brother, do you still remember that woman named Lulu? The one with the big chest…”

Wei YiChen’s eyes changed, causing Xiao PingTou to immediate change his tune: “With the pink hair! The one who likes staring at you, and also likes listening to your singing, that Lulu!”

Wei YiChen thought about it for a moment and replied: “I vaguely have an impression.”

Most of the girls who came at their bar were mostly there for Wei YiChen. He doesn’t remember each and every single one of them. But this girl named Lulu was particularly bold and proud. Once when Wei YiChen sang, she directly paid for everyone’s drinks then confessed to him. Of course, he only had Xu Lian in his heart, so he rejected her.

“When did she become Zhy Bing’s woman?”

Xiao PingTou replied: “Zhu Bing has been chasing after her for a while now. But Lulu keeps rejecting him, saying that the one she likes is you. Bah, isn’t that obvious? If I were a woman I would choose you too!”

Wei YiChen gave him another look so Xiao PingTou backtracked again: “But that Zhu Bing is too weak and incompetent! He should fight you head-on, but chooses to come and make trouble when you aren’t here!”

Wei YiChen thought so too. He patted Xiao PingTou’s shoulder and asked: “Why didn’t you call me last night?”

Xiao PingTou said: “Didn’t you go to the concert with older sister Xu Lian last night? We were…afraid we would disturb you!”

Wei YiChen: “…”

Nothing happened last night. I’m afraid I didn’t live up to my brother’s painstaking efforts.

Wei YiChen coughed then told everyone: “We’ve always been a clean establishment that followed the rules and didn’t participate in any shady business. But now that others have bullied us, we won’t just take this lying down. Come brothers, let’s go find this Zhu Bing and settle the accounts!”

“Good!”

Wei YiChen then took his large group of people and went out to do some ‘routine business’. On the way, he received a call from his mother telling him that she cooked dinner herself today so he should come home tonight.

Wei YiChen seldom ate at home. Because whenever he sees his father, they end up quarreling within minutes. It was better for everyone if they simply didn’t see each other. But whenever his mother cooks, he still tries to give her face. He did his makeup special before going home this time, covering up the bruises on his face. But in the end, one look from his mother and: “What’s that on your face, son? fighting again?”

Wei YiChen licked his lips and awkwardly replied as he sat down: “No, it’s the latest fashion trend right now…bruised makeup.”

Mother Wei looked at the marks carefully and didn’t buy it:”What latest trend, you were beaten up weren’t you?”

As she said this, Wei ZhenTing had come back inside and saw Wei YiChen in the living room, causing him to frown. Wei YiChen didn’t want to pay attention to him and kept his eyes on his mother. As Wei ZhenTing approached he condescendingly said: “You’re just in time. This is your Uncle Nie’s daughter. Come take a look at her.”

Wei ZhenTing took out a picture from his briefcase. Taking a quick look at the photo, Wei YiChen felt that something was off. He looked at his mother beside him. Mother Wei blinked and with some embarrassment said: “Your Uncle Nie’s daughter is really nice. She has a beautiful personality. Your father and I want you to get to know each other.”

Wei ZhenTing placed the photo on the table and said to Wei YiChen: “You’ll go have dinner with her at the European Hotel, day after tomorrow. We already made reservations.”

When Wei YiChen heard this he stood him and told his father in a particularly bad tone:”Why should I go eat with her? You like her so much, why don’t you go eat with her instead.”

“You…”

Wei ZhenTing was so angry he wanted to beat him up again. Mother Wei quickly caught Wei ZhenTing’s hand and advised: “Don’t, you’re no match for him.”

Wei ZhenTing: “….” His wife has a very unique way of persuading people.

“Son…”

“Mom, how come you’re letting Dad do these foolish things?”

“Who’s doing fooling things?” Wei ZhenTing was so angry his eyebrows were rising, “Look at what you look like, how do you look like?”

Wei YiChen picked up his helmet and didn’t continue to bother: “In conclusion, I’m not going, since you like her, you go instead.”