After Crossing Over to the Republic of China, I've Become a Heartthrob Chapter 11

Touching Beyond Boundaries

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Shi Yao said, "Then I choose to sleep on the streets."

"Okay," Song Liao opened the door to the room, "go ahead."

No way? Is he serious?

Shi Yao changed his words, "I'm just kidding, sleep, sleep, sleep! Who else can I sleep with?" He jumped onto the bed and rolled himself up in a ball with the blanket, like a soft jelly roll: "I'll go to bed now, good night!"

Song Liao pulled the quilt back and pulled it towards himself, and Shi Yao rolled twice on the bed and crashed into his arms.

Song Liao laid down and wrapped his arms around his waist, "Go to sleep."

His hands are still hot? Shi Yao tried to move away from him.

Song Liao's arms tightened a little.

What the hell, didn't he fall asleep?

Ten minutes later.

Is Song Liao asleep? Shi Yao tried to release his hands.

"Stop messing around." Warm air fell on his ears, "Unless you want something else to happen."

Shi Yao played dead.

The next afternoon.

At Nanyang University, after the lecture, Shi Yao was carrying his bag and was stopped by Jacob at the classroom entrance: "Are you free tonight? Dear Yao Yao?"

"Can you call me by my name properly?"

"It's a nickname to convey my affection and admiration for you."

"Don't give me that," Shi Yao slung his bag over his shoulder, "you were still playing house when I was using that trick to chase girls."

Jacob looked at him with interest, "So, how many girls have you chased?"

"Zero," Shi Yao looked at him blankly, "sweet words are useless."

"I agree, honeyed words without action are just empty words," Jacob said as he walked with Shi Yao to the school entrance, where his car was parked on the side of the road, and opened the door: "So I'm going to take you to experience earthly pleasures myself."

Shi Yao leaned against the door: "Where are we going?"

Jacob winked at him, "The ballroom, there's a ballroom dance party tonight."

Back in modern times, Shi Yao was especially keen to learn ballroom dancing, definitely not for the sake of meeting pretty girls.

When he was at university, there was an arts elective class, and Shi Yao had chosen ballroom dancing with great enthusiasm, only to discover on the first day of class that there were too many men who had the same idea as him, resulting in a serious imbalance in the ratio of men to women in the classroom.

The instructor randomly assigned him to a black macho man. Shi Yao couldn't take it anymore, so he withdrew from the class.

His dream of becoming a ballroom dancer was then destroyed.

He never thought that he would be able to revive his dream after being transported to the Republic of China!

"Great!" Shi Yao quickly got into the passenger seat and fastened his seat belt: "Can I learn ballroom dancing?"

"At your service." Jacob started the car and headed for the Paramount Ballroom.

It was nearly seven o'clock when they arrived at the venue, and before the dance had even started, there were already people dancing on the dance floor.

Jacob asked, "Would you like to join them?"

Shi Yao said, "Of course, but I don't know how."

"I can teach you some simple things, enough for tonight."

"Really?"

"Let's start now," Jacob said, wrapping his arm around his waist and whispering in his ear, "put your arms around my neck."

Shi Yao obediently wrapped his arms around him.

Jacob eased closer to him, "Now for the kissing part."

With a thud, a solid punch hit his face and Jacob looked at him miserably, "You hit me?"

"Are you going to be serious?" Shi Yao said, "I haven't heard of such a part."

"Can't there be?" His blue eyes rippling with water, Jacob said demurely, "A courtesy kiss?"

"No."

Jacob put his arm around him, "Then is a courtesy hug okay?"

"Yao'er," Song Yuan appeared from nowhere, leading the man and shielding him behind himself, "what are you doing here?"

"Song Yuan? What are you doing here?"

Song Yuan examined him carefully with a delicate and gentle look, before replying, "I am here on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce to speak with Mr. Ling, and my business partners have chosen this place."

Shi Yao looked behind him, and in a booth not far away, he saw Ling Junde.

Surrounded by a small group of brothers, Ling Junde raised his glass to him.

"Oh, that's quite a coincidence."

Song Yuan asked, "Do you often come to places like this?"

For some reason, Shi Yao felt a little guilty: "No, no, Jacob said there was a dance tonight."

"Right, I brought him here," Jacob said with a provocative tone, "Why? Do I have to ask your permission?"

"Mr. Jacob," Song Yuan said indifferently, "Yao'er is still young and a student, this is not the place for him."

"I'm here, but he can't come?"

"He is different from you."

"Oh? What's the difference?"

"Mr. Jacob has a wide range of friends, he has no taboos towards meat and vegetables, and he is very good at love affairs; Yao'er is too young to be involved in such things, so please be courteous."

"Song Yuan, who are you to say that? You are not the one who is engaged to him, are you?"

Song Yuan was not angry at being questioned like this, and instead he smiled contemptuously: "Yao'er is a member of my Song family, and I am his brother, so why can't I defend him? Mr. Jacob is the one who is the outsider, isn't he?"

The two of them were going back and forth, and the fire grew stronger. Shi Yao had a headache and said, "You two take your time then, I'll go first."

"Where are you going?" Two voices sounded at the same time.

"I'm just going to... the bathroom."

The ballroom was dimly lit, and it took Shi Yao half a day to find the sign for the bathroom.

Just as he entered, he heard a man call out to him, "Shi Yao, are you free this weekend?"

In the mirror, Shi Yao looked behind him and saw Ling Junde not far away.

He extinguished the cigar in his hand, dropped some cigar ashes and threw it into the trash. Under the dim light, his black eyes were as sharp as a sharp edge.

"Boss Ling is inviting me, so of course I'm free. Is it a money-making project?"

"Export trade. The rules are the same as before, when the deal is done, the price is up to you, American dollars."

"Okay! What do I need to do?"

"Interpretation, and a translation of the contract.

"What is the trade regarding? I'd like to make some preparations in advance."

"Ore." Ling Junde leaned closer to him, his voice low and magnetic: "Iron ore, mostly, and... gold."

That sounded like a huge deal!

"Is that what you and Song Yuan are talking about tonight?"

"Yes. There are a lot of stakeholders involved, not just the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce."

"So if it works out, will you be able to live in luxury and prosperity for the rest of your life?"

Ling Junde sneered, "Is that all you want?"

"That's how unpromising I am."

"If it's successful, no matter how long you wish to live, you can be rich and prosperous, and eat without worry."

"If it's successful, would the credit for the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce go to Song Yuan or to Song Liao?"

"Why do you care about that?"

"Because the rumour is that..."

"The reason why a rumour is a rumour is that it is not credible." Ling Junde covered Shi Yao's eyes and said next to his ear, "Your eyes will deceive you, and your ears will play tricks on you."

Shi Yao's heart skipped a beat.

"The marketplace is like a battlefield," Ling Junde's voice echoed in the bottom of his heart, "Song Yuan is not as gentle as he appears to be."

The scent of nicotine mixed with antique cologne wrapped around him, inexplicably causing heart palpitations. Shi Yao pushed his palm away from his eyes: "You look more dangerous, don't you?"

"I have never hidden that," Ling Junde took his wrist and moved it towards his body, "Touch it."

"What-what-what-what are you doing?" Shi Yao struggled, "I don't have such a perverted hobby."

Ling Junde chuckled, "What are you thinking? Hmm?"

His fingers felt something cold and metallic, and in the dim light, Shi Yao could barely see that it was an exquisite pistol.

Shi Yao's breath caught slightly: Ling Junde, indeed, is a true big boss of Shanghai! I just want to make money, I don't want to cross the fire line and become cannon fodder!

So he deliberately said, "Boss Ling, that matter of the translation, why don't I think about it again?"

"You can go back on your words, but I have to remind you." Ling Junde took out a cigar and lit it: "The reward is always proportional to the risk."

"I'll seriously consider it."

After slipping his business card into Shi Yao's pocket and blowing a nice smoke ring, Ling Junde whispered, "Here is my number, feel free to contact me when you are ready."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: June 9, 2023