chapter 14 - call me senior

Zhuang Yan is a person with high standards. He wouldn’t even glance at normal restaurants; on the contrary, he despised them.

When they’d talked before, Xie Ning had heard him complain about several famous-for-nothing restaurants, where the price was high but the taste was mediocre.

Xie Ning would sometimes wonder why he was able to handle the food he made Zhuang Yan, since his cooking skills were clearly not good.

When he got onto the car, Xie Ning thought Zhuang Yan would take them to some sort of high-end restaurant, but couldn’t have guessed that he would be taken to his alma mater.

There were a good amount of students that walked past the car on this street, and Xie Ning was dressed perfectly for the occasion, blending in without a problem. On the other hand, Zhuang Yan looked as if he was someone from the outside world, and received a lot of glances from people passing by.

Zhuang Yan took Xie Ning through a couple of the streets around X University, and finally, looked at the unfamiliar storefront in front of him. He furrowed his brows, saying, “How come it’s not here anymore? I shouldn’t have remembered incorrectly.”

Xie Ning asked, “Were you going to take me to ‘Ju Yuan Lou’?”

Zhuang Yan was puzzled. “...Yes. You also know of ‘Ju Yuan Lou’?”

Xie Ning pointed to the unfamiliar storefront, and said, “You didn’t go the wrong way, but ‘Ju Yuan Lou’ closed a couple of years ago, and the store has long ago been transferred to someone else.”

Ju Yuan Lou is a rare, high-end restaurant near X University. Even though its surroundings were excellent, the price was very expensive. Working people, much less students, were hardly able to afford it. Class gatherings and the like were never planned here.

Therefore, Ju Yuan Lou became known as a restaurant that only the newly rich could afford. It looks like Zhuang Yan is one of those newly rich.

The year Xie Ning graduated, Ju Yuan Lou couldn’t continue on anymore, and closed its doors.

Zhuang Yan was startled, and asked, “How did you know?”

Xie Ning said, “Because I also graduated from X University. I graduated the year Ju Yuan Lou closed.”

“We’re both alumni?” Zhuang Yan lifted his eyebrow. “This is such a coincidence.”

After a pause, he added, “It seems like I’ve been saying this phrase a lot since I’ve met you.”

Xie Ning nodded in agreement. They talked for a short while, and found out that Zhuang Yan was two years older than Xie Ning, and was in the scenarist-director department, while Xie Ning was in the art department.

The corner of Zhuang Yan’s mouth lifted. “So, I’m your senior?”

He really is. Xie Ning thought.

He knew that Zhuang Yan wouldn’t let this point go!

Sure enough, Zhuang Yan’s next sentence was, “Come, my junior, let me hear you call me senior once.”

“...”

Xie Ning was speechless for a short while, then cutely said, “Senior.”

He only had to call him senior. It’s not like he was calling him husband.

Xie Ning had never cared about these things, and called him this with no pressure involved.

Hearing his soft voice and seeing his lovable appearance, Zhuang Yan suddenly felt his mouth go dry, and he swallowed a couple times.

He was...so well-behaved.

Since he called him senior when asked, what if he asked him to call him by another name?

What if...he made a more unreasonable demand?

Would Mr. Rabbit just obediently comply?

Zhuang Yan suddenly regretted not actually kissing him earlier.

Maybe...maybe Xie Ning would have just accepted it!

Unfortunately, it was too late to regret now.

Xie Ning didn’t know what Zhuang Yan was thinking about, and asked, “How come I’d never seen you at school?”

Zhuang Yan said, “That’s normal. I went to study abroad after my third year here.”

So it’s like that, Xie Ning thought.

Zhuang Yan smiled while looking at him, and said, “If I didn’t go abroad, maybe we would have been acquainted at school.”

Xie Ning: “That’s not for certain, since there’s so many people at university.”

Zhuang Yan raised his eyebrow. “You must have been a man of the moment since you’re so good-looking. I would have come to see you at least once if I heard about you.”

In university, Xie Ning truly was a man of the moment, because he was so good-looking. He’d even been confessed to while walking on the street.

He didn’t know how to refute that, so he could only say, “That should be said about you. You must have been famous at school since you’re so handsome.”

Who knew that Zhuang Yan would nod his head instead, as if it was expected, and say, “Of course”?

Xie Ning: “...”

He forgot that this man was not only picky, but also very confident.

Ju Yuan Lou had closed, and they thought other places were too far. The two of them were tired after moving around all day.

Xie Ning suddenly grabbed Zhuang Yan’s hand, saying, “Since we’re here already, can I take you to a place?”

Zhuang Yan was taken aback, and didn’t answer him, but lowered his head and stared at the place Xie Ning’s hand was holding.

It was warm and a little itchy. The feeling was super great.

Zhuang Yan shook his wrist lightly, not moving the back of his hand, and held his hand.

Xie Ning didn’t notice, and smiled slightly, saying, “Follow me.”

Zhuang Yan didn’t say anything, but the corner of his lips lifted a bit, and allowed himself to be pulled forward to follow Xie Ning.

The two of them stopped in front of a clay pot restaurant.

The clay pot restaurant wasn’t large, the decoration was simple and clean, and had two rows of tables arranged neatly. Perhaps their business was quite good, as there were a couple more tables and chairs outside the restaurant.

It just so happened to be time for night classes, so there weren’t many students in the restaurant. Xie Ning pulled Zhuang Yan into the store, found an empty table, and sat down.

“The clay pot dishes at this restaurant are delicious!” Xie Ning introduced to him, “The boss made the base of the dish himself, and you can’t taste it anywhere else. What about it, would you like to try?”

Based on Zhuang Yan’s standards, this restaurant was the kind that he wouldn’t walk into even if he was beaten to death. The storefront was too small, there were no separate private rooms, and there wasn’t even a tablecloth on the table. After a customer was done eating, the table would be wiped with a cloth and be considered done. It looked unhygienic.

But looking at Xie Ning’s fervent gaze, he was unable to say the words to decline. “...Okay.”

The boss should know Xie Ning, and looked at him for a while before smiling and saying, “I remember that you haven’t been here in a couple years.”

Xie Ning nodded. “I haven’t come here since I graduated. You still remember me?”

The boss said, “I have a good memory, and you were a frequent customer. You’re also good-looking, and every time you came, the number of customers here would increase.”

Xie Ning started to blush at the praise. He changed the subject, saying, “We’ll have two bowls of clay pots.”

“Yup.” The boss replied with a sound and started to walk towards the kitchen, but came back to say, “I forgot to tell you, but the price of the clay pot has increased. It was 12RMB a bowl before, but now it’s 15RMB.”

Xie Ning said, “Oh, got it.”

The boss continued, saying, “I can’t help it, either. The prices of ingredients and other things are rising so quickly now.”

Xie Ning made a sound in agreement twice before the boss reluctantly left.

Zhuang Yan was listening to the two talk, and now, he asked, “You know the boss here?”

Xie Ning said, “I came here often to eat, so we became acquainted.”

“I could tell.”

A little boy stopped next to their table and looked over curiously.

His eyes met Zhuang Yan’s, and the little boy seemed startled, running away with a “pit-a-pat” sound.

“...”

Zhuang Yan thought, Am I that scary? I thought I was pretty handsome.

“That’s the boss’ son.” Xie Ning explained. “I remember when this restaurant first opened, the boss’ wife was pregnant. And now…”

Zhuang Yan estimated the little boy’s age. “He’s around the age to start elementary school.”

Xie Ning nodded. “Yes, it’s been several years.”

Because Xie Ning was a regular customer before, their clay pots arrived very quickly.

This 15RMB clay pot was probably the cheapest dinner Zhuang Yan had ever had in his life.

He normally wouldn’t even look at the food at a restaurant like this, but when he lifted his head and saw Xie Ning eating it with such pleasure, he felt like this clay pot was one of the most delicious things on Earth.

Sometimes, whether something is delicious or not has nothing to do with its taste, but has to do with who is eating with you.

As Zhuang Yan was thinking this, he slowly finished eating his clay pot dish.

“How does it taste?” Xie Ning asked.

Zhuang Yan didn’t know if it was a psychological effect that was affecting him, but he actually thought it was quite good.

He smiled, and replied, “It’s delicious.”

Xie Ning let out a sigh of relief. He’d felt a little uneasy after bringing Zhuang Yan here, afraid that he wasn’t used to eating such things.

He raised his head and saw the expensive outfit Zhuang Yan was wearing; its style was completely out of place in the restaurant, yet Zhuang Yan was sitting there, prim and proper, eating the clay pot in front of him. Xie Ning couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“Is this the first time you’ve felt like you can be so close to the ground?”

Zhuang Yan smiled helplessly, and said, “Before this, I didn’t think you were a person that was so close to the ground either.”

Xie Ning lifted the corner of his lip. “That means you don’t know me well enough yet.”

Zhuang Yan put down his chopsticks and gazed at him, saying, “Will you allow me to get to know you better?”

Xie Ning was startled.

This question sounded too meaningful, as if it were a confession. Xie Ning didn’t know how to answer.

He was silent for a couple of seconds, and changed the subject, saying, “If you’re done, let’s go.”

Zhuang Yan’s eyes flashed with disappointment, but he didn’t try to force him. He slowly followed Xie Ning out of the restaurant.

After walking a few steps, Zhuang Yan reached out his hand to hold Xie Ning’s hand.

Xie Ning’s body stiffened. His fingers struggled unnaturally, but Zhuang Yan clasped them tightly.

“Let go of me.” Xie Ning said quietly.

Zhuang Yan held on even tighter, and even swung his hand a little. “I’m not letting go.”

Xie Ning: “You…” What immoral behavior!

Zhuang Yan continued to say, “There’s too many people around here. I’m afraid I won’t be able to find you if I let go.”

Nonsense!

There are clearly not that many people on this street!

Xie Ning was nervous and angry, and felt something inexplicable in his heart.

But this feeling didn’t seem to be disgust, it was more like...shyness.

Xie Ning’s ears became warm again, and his struggling movement became much smaller.

Zhuang Yan felt his slight surrender, and said, “Plus, it’s warmer this way.”

It’s obviously warmer if you just put it in your pocket!

Xie Ning looked at their clasped hands, and could only feel how fiery his palm was. His whole body started to heat up along with it.

He looked away, his ears red, but didn’t struggle anymore.

Okay, it really was...quite warm.

Zhuang Yan was satisfied now. He wasn’t in a hurry to get back. He held Xie Ning’s hand as he chatted with him about his own stories from university.

“I was quite misbehaved in university. Very arrogant, and I didn’t think highly of anyone. There was one time when a professor asked us to hand in group homework. I couldn’t stand people who would hold me back, so I finished it myself and turned it in. I got 0 points.”

“The professor said that there was only one signed name on the paper. No matter how well the homework was done, it couldn’t be considered group homework. I was so angry, I got into a big fight with him.”

Xie Ning asked, “Did you win?”

Zhuang Yan nodded, then shook his head. “I won that once, but he was in charge of the grade for that course. At that time, I was getting ready to study abroad, and there were a couple of prerequisites before I could go. I couldn’t drop that course.”

“So you compromised?”

Zhuang Yan smiled. “Afterwards, I found a couple of classmates to do the homework with. I was in charge of doing the homework, and they were in charge of signing their name at the end.”

Xie Ning laughed out loud. “That’s allowed?”

Zhuang Yan lifted his eyebrow. “The professor didn’t know what to do with me either. It was a blessing in disguise, though. From then on, I was popular among my classmates--all of them wanted to do group homework with me.”

Of course. He was a thigh that didn’t need you to do anything; everyone would want to hold on to it.

“When I left the country, a lot of classmates even cried.” Zhuang Yan continued, saying, “Everyone seemed so sad at the farewell gathering. I thought they couldn’t bear to see me go, so I asked, and…”

Xie Ning: “They were all crying because they had to do group homework by themselves in the future?”

Zhuang Yan discontentedly said, “I can’t say it was all of them. There were still people who actually couldn’t bear to see me go.”

Xie Ning: “How many?”

Zhuang Yan was silent for a few seconds. “Most of them, I guess?”

Xie Ning laughed again.

Zhuang Yan saw him smiling and suddenly said, “Are you in a better mood now?”

Xie Ning looked at him, confused. “What?”

Zhuang Yan said, “Weren’t you feeling down today?”

Xie Ning pressed his lips together. “How did you know?”

Zhuang Yan really wanted to reach out and stroke his face, but he resisted. “I could tell.”

Xie Ning asked, “When?”

“When you got home.” Zhuang Yan said, “When I ran into you in the afternoon, you were in a good mood, but at night, you seemed unhappy.”

Xie Ning was surprised.

Was he that obvious about it?

He was found out so easily.

After picking up Xia Wan’s call, he was indeed inattentive.

Xie Ning’s eyes flashed.

Zhuang Yan stopped walking, and asked, “Did something happen?”

Xie Ning lowered his eyes. “Nothing much.”

Zhuang Yan didn’t ask anymore, and just said, “Anyhow, if it was something unpleasant, then don’t think too much about it.”

Xie Ning looked at him from the side, and suddenly asked, “Were you helping me forget the unhappiness today?”

Those teasing words, the kiss that wasn’t a kiss, accompanying him to eat a cheap dinner, holding his hand without letting go...was all to distract him?

“Yes, I was.” Zhuang Yan ruffled his hair lightly. “Look, didn’t I make you laugh out loud?”

Xie Ning didn’t say anything.

Zhuang Yan’s hand landed on his face. “In the future, you only need to remember me. You don’t need to remember those things that make you unhappy.”

He caressed Xie Ning’s face with his palm.

He suddenly felt like it got warmer.

------------------------------------------

Author’s Note: Today is the Zhuang Yan that’s part of the Healing Department!

Translator's Notes:

Ju Yuan Lou - i did a cursory baidu search for "ju yuan", and while it's not an idiom/common phrase, i believe that it basically means fate/destiny--nicely named, considering the series LOL "lou" is a word for a building with more than one floor, but in some cases it can also mean restaurant? something to do with ancient china...

newly rich - in this case, it refers to those who (usually newly rich) spend money recklessly or boldly, and there's an added nuance of them not having much education/not coming from a good background, though not in zhuang yan's case

man of the moment - an idiom, basically means that xie ning would have been well-known at school

clay pot - pictures here! https://www.lifealth.com/wellness/healthy-living/clay-pot-cooking-what-are-the-benefits-of-eating-the-food-cooked-in-clay-pot-mj/82549/

so close to the ground - the phrase means to connect with the low level of society, or being near real daily life