Episode 016: Am I Aloof?
On Saturday morning, Qi Yu took his violin and proceeded to the designated meeting place.
He looked at the six people with him. There was only one who was from the same class, a girl named Wang Xuan. The rest were new schoolmates he didn’t know.
They all introduced themselves to each other. Qi Yu had a bit of an impression of the senior named Gao Zhishi. He was he one who’d sent the Tuzki emoticon in the group chat.
Gao Zhishi had been the one to book the cars, but when the time came, only one car arrived.
The two boys and two girls left in the first car. Qi Yu and the remaining two waited and waited and waited for the second car but it was a no-show.
Gao Zhishi repeatedly called the car rental company. He negotiated for more than ten minutes, and finally told them, flustered and exasperated, that the other car he had book had somehow been cancelled.
It just so happened that cars were in short supply on Saturdays. It would take at least forty minutes if they were to make another order.
By the time they arrange for another car, the others would have already arrived at Golden Mountain Park! Gao Zhishi, a heavy pile of drinks in hand, was so anxious he was starting to sweat profusely, “I have no idea what that car rental company is doing. I really want to file a complaint! ”
Qi Yu suggested, “Should we get a taxi?”
Wang Xuan murmured, “But taking a taxi is much more expensive than renting a car in advance…”
He couldn’t help being startled. Indeed, some of students who came to study abroad might not have come from particularly well-off families. It is especially difficult to apply for scholarships for undergraduates. Because the picnic expenses were to be evenly shared, then naturally, the taxi fare would be too. It was understandable that some people would feel distressed about shouldering this expense.
Seeing them all wearing worried looks on their faces, Qi Yu hesitated for a moment and then said, “If it’s ok with all of you, I can drive us there.”
Wang Xuan was surprised. “You have a car!?”
Gao Zhishi: “You even have a driver’s license?”
Qi Yu nodded. Although he only rented an inconspicuous small apartment and went to school on foot, he had been outfitted with a car.
Not only that, after he came to Stafford last year, Qi Yuancheng originally planned to buy him a house near the school. He was then going to hire someone to look after him personally. However, Qi Yu felt it was unnecessary and refused. In the end, he only needed a car for when he occasionally wanted to go shopping in a big supermarket or go somewhere a bit far.
The arrangements for this picnic was done by Zhang Cheng Xuan and it was a group activity. Qi Yu didn’t want to stand out, so he hadn’t taken the initiative to mention that he had a car in the beginning.
However, after waiting fifteen minutes, when Qi Yu appeared in front of Wang Xuan and Gao Zhishi in his black Porsche, he still gave them quite the shock.
“Oh my God, a Porsche!?” Wang Xuan was so shocked, her jaw almost dropped. “Qi Yu, what kind of idol drama protagonist persona do you have!”
When Gao Zhishi got into the passenger seat, he enviously ran this hand over the high-end car accessories. “Qi Yu, is your family rich?”
Wang Xuan added, “And here I thought you were just handsome…You’re too low-key!”
Qi Yu chuckled. He reminded Gao Zhishi to fasten his seatbelt, before stepping on the accelerator and speeding off.
At first, Gao Zhishi still tried to ask Qi Yu about his background, but after Qi Yu said nothing aside from that his family was in business, Gao Zhishi wisely changed the subject. But his attitude when speaking was obviously much more ardent than before.
Forty minutes later, they arrived at Golden Mountain Park without a hitch.
Sure enough, the greater part of the group arrived one step ahead of them. When everyone saw Qi Yu driving a luxury car, they was a big fuss.
Of course, some of them were really shocked, but some were just pretending and going along.
The starting point for students who can come to the United States to take their undergraduate degree is relatively high. Though most of them weren’t as rich as the Qi Family, they had seen quite a lot of the world.
For example, Zhang Cheng Xuan; although he went with his other schoolmates to gather around the car to marvel at it, joining in with the fun, his eyes did not waver in the slightest.
The murmur of gossip lay over his schoolmates as they surrounded his car. Seeing that he didn’t talk much, they were too embarrassed to ask further. Unconsciously, they started to maintain some distance from him.
Once everyone’s interest started to abate a bit, Zhang Cheng Xuan quietly walked to Qi Yu and said, as though chatting, “Qi Yu, you can even play the violin?”
“I studied for a few years,” Qi Yu said.
“You still have to lug around a violin on a picnic. Sorry to trouble you,” Zhang Cheng Xuan said.
“It’s nothing,” Qi Yu smiled, inwardly he was thanking his lucky stars he had drawn the violin when he and his brother had been drawing lots back then. If he got the piano, there was no way he’d be able to carry it around everywhere.
“I’m looking forward to your performance later.” Zhang Cheng Xuan smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He then went to greet the others.
Golden Mountain Park was a famous local attraction. It consisted of more than ten small parks covering an area of over a thousand acres. There were many facilities such as museums, art galleries, and Japanese tea gardens in the park.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Their group, led by Zhang Cheng Xuan, went to the picnic area and worked together to spread picnic mats on the grass.
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“No, thanks. You guys go,” Qi Yu said.
Another girl came over and asked boldly, “Hey, handsome, want to go to the tea garden with us?”
Qi Yu politely refused, “Thank you, but I want to take a break here.”
Seeing these two people hit a wall, the other people who were ready to make a move, also gave up on trying to strike up a conversation.
Soon, most of the people were gone. Qi Yu took some pictures with his phone, then found a comfortable position and sat down on the grass. He opened WeChat, and sent the pictures to Complex Number.
F1S: “The weather over there looks nice.”
Yu: “You’re not asleep yet?”
F1S: “It’s only 11 o’clock, there’s still another hour before I go to sleep.”
F1S: “Didn’t you say you were going out with your classmates? How do you still have time to send me photos?”
Yu: “They went to play. I’m just by myself, sitting on the grass, basking in the sun~”
F1S: “By yourself? It’s not just so you can to talk to me for a while, right?”
Yu: “Why are you this shameless?”
F1S: “I met an employer like you who spent only five thousand yuan but talks enough for fifty thousand. It’s too late for me to complain.”
As he was chatting, a shadow suddenly fell in front of his eyes. Qi Yu looked up and saw that Zhang Cheng Xuan had appeared in front of him at some point and brought him a cup of coffee.
“Here.” The boy looked at him with a smile.
Qi Yu put away his phone, took the coffee and thanked him.
“As expected, you really are quite aloof. Just now, so many people were being so attentive to you but you didn’t pay any attention to them.” Zhang Cheng Xuan sat cross-legged beside him and asked, “Aren’t you going to go have a look around?
Qi Yu smiled, “I’ve been here before.”
Zhang Cheng Xuan was taken aback for a moment: “When did you come?”
Qi Yu: “Last year.”
“When he’d been free his freshman year, Qi Yu had already driven here on his own several times. He had visited all the museums and art galleries. He’d also gone to the sports fields to play a couple rounds of golf.
“No wonder,” Zhang Cheng Xuan sighed a little dejectedly. “It was my miss. I didn’t even ask if you’re interested in this place.”
“It’s okay. Coming out to breathe the fresh air is nice too.” Qi Yu lazily stretching his arms on the grass, “Why didn’t you go play?”
“I’ll go once I’ve had my coffee.” Zhang Cheng Xuan raised his cup and asked again, “Won’t you be bored here by yourself?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll help you guys look after your things while I’m at it.” Qi Yu said.
Zhang Cheng Xuan laughed. “We get a rare chance to have a handsome guy join us and he winds up helping us look after our things. I really am overwhelmed by this unexpected favor!”
In fact, there were two other people left. They were a young couple, third year students, who were sitting a distance away from Qi Yu.
Qi Yu knew that Zhang Cheng Xuan was joking. He let his lips tick up and made no answer.
Zhang Cheng Xuan got up after drinking his coffee. Before leaving, he told Qi Yu to help himself to whatever he wanted to eat.
Seeing that he had walked quite a ways away, Qi Yu took out his mobile phone again, and said to Complex Number. “A classmate just approached me. Have you fallen asleep?”
F1S: “My eyes are almost closed.”
Yu: “[Tuzki Madly Shaking a Person.gif]”
F1S: “…”
F1S: “Stop shaking. I’m awake.”
F1S: “I heard Xu Yizhou say that you’re very handsome. There must be a lot of girls chasing after you.”
Yu: “Not really.”
F1S: “How come?”
Yu: “I can tell that they often sneak looks at me, but few people dare to come over and confess.”
F1S: “How come?”
Yu: “My classmate say that I’m aloof.”
Yu: “Do you think I’m aloof?”
F1S: “Aloof? But you…”
Yu: “What’s wrong with me?”
F1S: “You’re like a clingy little fish with me.”
Yu: “…”
Yu: “[Tuzki Madly Shaking a Person.gif]”
Yu: “You can sleep now!”
F1S: “Thank you, good night.”
Qi Yu put down his mobile phone and for a while, he started blankly at nothing in particular. Then, he couldn’t help having his attention drawn in by the couple sitting not far away.
He saw the girl cuddled in the boy’s arms. The two were reading a book together. The girl was holding a bag of potato chips in her hand; occasionally, she would feed one to the boy. The boy, in turn, would sometimes bow his head and kiss the girl…
Qi Yu suddenly felt his chest tighten. He felt a little uncomfortable.
He picked up his phone again and said to Complex Number: “Get up.”
F1S: “And you say you’re not clingy?”
Yu: “I already paid you!”
Yu: “And over there, it’s not yet two o’clock.”
F1S: “…you win.”
F1S: “There’s still an hour and a half left. Hurry up.”
Yu: “Our department has a very smooth and slick classmate this year.”
F1S: “How slick?”
Yu: “On the second day of school, he organized an inter-year get together. He was the one who arranged this picnic today. Also, he seems to have a good relationship with everyone.”
Ever since Zhang Cheng Xuan invited him to the picnic, Qi Yu had been secretly paying attention to him.
After joining the group chat, he also paid attention to Zhang Cheng Xuan’s words to see how he coordinated everything.
This person seemed to be very cordial to everyone, but Qi Yu knew that this kind of enthusiasm was a kind of surface skill. After all, they've only known each other for a short time.
However, Zhang Cheng Xuan’s actions were so natural. He didn’t come off as too forceful and neither was he flattering. He managed to get the people to happily listen to his arrangements; even managing to evoke some feelings of closeness with him.
Qi Yu hesitated for a moment, and said to Complex Number: “I think my dad really wants me to be like such a person.”
F1S: “Smooth and slick?”
Yu: “En…”
But unfortunately, he couldn’t do it.
He thought, this was probably a kind of innate instinct.
His younger brother Qi Feng also had similar qualities.
When the brothers went out to play together when they were young, they obviously looked exactly alike, but Qi Feng could always unknowingly gather their peers around him. It was like he had a magnetic force.
Whilst Qi Yu always wanted to escape from the hustle and bustle, wanting to calm himself down.
F1S: “What’s that person’s name? Would you like me to investigate him for you?”
Qi Yu wondered: “Is that possible?”
F1S: “I don’t know. I’ll try.”
Yu: “His name is Zhang Cheng Xuan.”
Ten minutes later.
F1S: “Your classmate has some background.”
Yu: “…?”
F1S: “Remember that financial report I sent you earlier? The one of Fia Apparel?”
Yu: “I remember.”
It was the company whose financial report Complex Number said was very beautiful, so he could use it as reference.
F1S: “Fia Apparel is a subsidiary of the Li Zao Group. The person in charge of the Li Zao Group is Zhang Bifa. He has two younger brothers, Zhang Youfa and Zhang Aifa, both of whom are major shareholders of the group. Zhang Cheng Xuan Tongxue has shares in another small company under the Li Zao Group. It’s very likely he’s one of the second generations of one of the Zhang families, or a collateral relative.”
Qi Yu was a little dazed. Just a second before he was still entangled about how his ability was inferior to that of others. As a result, the next second, Complex Number was already exposing the other’s entire background for him to see?
He didn’t know how to say it, but he suddenly felt…
…A bit invigorated…
While he was still in a daze, Complex Number sent him another message.
F1S: “Little fish, you have a rival.”
Qi Yu: “???”
This nickname is becoming a habit, isn’t it??
The author has something to say: [Little Theater]
Fu: Xu Yizhou said that you’re very handsome.
Fraction: I did not. I never said that. Stop pulling me into all sorts of things!
————
Qi Yu watched the couple’s daily life and ate a mouthful of dog food.
He thought about it and felt unreconciled. Laozi obviously has a husband too.
Yu: “Sleep? What sleep? Get up!”
F1S: “…”
Translator’s note: The cast of characters is getting big but don’t worry, I’ll place a pop-up note if its someone who hasn’t appeared in a while or is seldom mentioned.
thank you for the chapter~! (^^)
Thank you for the chapter~ (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
wehe little fish, because of you im not sleeping either ah
Can’t help it, this little fish is too amusing after all~
Thank you for the chapter 🌸
Kinikilig ako. Pota. Partida ‘di pa sila nagkikita nito. Hahaha
Thank you for the chapter! I always look forward to every update of this novel. 💕
Qi Yu jumping into a pit he doesn’t even realize is a pit sips tea
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
💙💙💙
Thanks for the chapter<3(≧▽≦)
thanks for the chapter!
This is so cute!
lao gong, just admit that you physically complimenting your xiao shou’s appearance is really your personal opinion, not xu yizhou’s lol
Xiao Yu is prohibited from telling his hubby to “Shut up” but he can tell him to “Go to sleep” huh? lol
MC scared off all the pursuers for Qi Feng but he is introverted. I don’t expect him to be overly extroverted but at least be decent at pretending to communicateng
*communicate
Little fish reminds me what the MC is call in Transmigrated into a Violent Boss’ Little Mermaid
SO CUTE