His Honey Chapter 1

Chapter 1

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When Xiao Yichi's eyes fell on the Patek Philippe on Yu Zhinian's wrist, he knew that this blind date was going to end badly.

His old neighbour, Auntie Mai, introduced Yu Zhinian to him like this: he works in a law firm, from nine to nine six days a week, is in his thirties, wants to change his job recently, and is very honest.

Auntie Mai heard about him from her square dance partner, Auntie Pan. Auntie Pan said that he is her nephew, he is very nice, but his relationship journey is not smooth. Now that the same-sex marriage law has been passed, she wants to find him a person who can live a good life with him. The elderly neighbours opened their mouths to introduce him, and Xiao Yichi couldn't refuse, he also really wanted to find a companion, so he agreed.

He was dressed up today, everyone understands that first impressions are important.

They did not add each other's social accounts, but were brought together by enthusiastic aunts on both sides. They arranged to meet at a cafe near Xiao Yichi's neighbourhood.

Xiao Yichi noticed the other person the moment he pushed open the door.

Yu Zhinian wore a white shirt. Because he was sitting, the table blocked his vision and he didn't see what colour his pants were.

He was very prominent. Because he was very handsome. His profile was clear and distinct, his nose was high and straight, and his gaze was deep, making him a very special person.

He also noticed Xiao Yichi, and his gaze was cast over to his side.

"Hello, I'm Xiao Yichi." Xiao Yichi walked over and greeted him.

"Hello, I'm Yu Zhinian." Yu Zhinian extended his hand.

So Xiao Yichi noticed the Patek Philippe on his wrist and realised that shaking hands in greeting was too businesslike. Yu Zhinian said, "Work habits, sorry."

Xiao Yichi shook his head and shook the other's hand of friendship, "It's okay."

Xiao Yichi sat down, and when he looked at him up close, he was sure that the white shirt on Yu Zhinian's body was expensive – The fabric was soft but not translucent, and the shoulder line was just right, comfortable and stylish.

"What are you drinking? I'll go order." Yu Zhinian asked Xiao Yichi. Xiao Yichi turned his head to look at the colourful drink list hanging on the wall, "A medium American then."

"Okay." Yu Zhinian got up.

He wore a pair of khaki trousers, loose but not too loose, just right to outline that long line from waist to ankle.

With such conditions, one really doesn't have to rely on a blind date to find a match. There weren't many people at the ordering counter, and Yu Zhinian quickly returned with two drinks. The one he ordered was a cup of black coffee.

He took a sip and put it down, and got right to the point with Xiao Yichi, "Mr. Xiao, Auntie Pan, who is the matchmaker for us, is an elder that I respect a lot, and she has always been worried about my marriage situation, so, I would like to ask for your help. This month, meet with me four times, and after that, you will be the one to tell her that we're not suitable, is that okay?"

The handsome man even had a magnetic voice. His tone was gentle and courteous, but it couldn't hide one fact – after just a few minutes together, Yu Zhinian had already made the judgement that he wasn't interested in him.

Xiao Yichi inwardly digested this sad conclusion alone, thinking in his head: it's okay, anyway, there's nothing to be busy with lately, and meeting with a handsome man feeds your eyes and nourishes your mood.

He didn't dwell on it and agreed, "Okay."

The two exchanged WeChat accounts.

When leaving the cafe, Yu Zhinian's cup of black coffee was only sipped.

In front of the cafe, Xiao Yichi couldn't help but be curious, "Mr. Yu, I'll take the liberty of asking, why do you think we don't have a chance?"

Anyway, there is no chance, dead pigs are not afraid of being burnt.

Yu Zhinian was slightly stunned, perhaps he did not expect someone to dare to directly ask this.

He also did not evade, "Your appearance... is not within my range of consideration."

"Oh." Xiao Yichi had a knowing expression.

Wow, this straight shot, it hurts a little bit when it hits your face. But he asked for it on his own initiative, so he had to take the pain.

"I see." Xiao Yichi smiled and said goodbye to Yu Zhinian, "Then I'll wait for you to send me information about the next meeting."

"Okay." Yu Zhinian nodded.

Xiao Yichi lives in a neighbourhood that used to be a soy sauce factory's welfare housing compound. The average age of the buildings is about twenty years, and they didn't have elevators. With the development of the city, this lot has become part of the city centre, and the old raggedy houses were worth several million.

The blind date lasted only ten minutes. Xiao Yichi deliberately walked around the block a few times before returning to the neighbourhood. He picked up his steps and walked to the door of his house. The door is an old-fashioned sliding iron gate. He opened the lock, and as soon as he pulled it, the whole building knew that he was back.

"Back?" Auntie Mai across the hall heard his voice before she saw him; she had already opened the door and asked excitedly from behind him. Xiao Yichi turned around and smiled, "Yes."

"How come you're so fast? It would be good for you young people to go to a cafe of any kind, sit down properly for a meal, and have a good chat... Hey, how do you feel?" Auntie Mai's eyes were glowing.

"Quite good. We plan to get to know each other more."

"Aiya that's great! I heard A'Pan's introduction at the time and thought you two were suitable! Come, come, come, sit over here. You haven't eaten, have you? Come and eat with me. Why are you still standing there? Come in!"

Xiao Yichi couldn't resist Auntie Mai's enthusiasm, so he rubbed the back of his head and walked in.

During this time, Xiao Yichi asked Auntie Mai, "Auntie, how did you introduce me to Mr. Yu?"

"Hmm?" Auntie Mai said as she was busy in the kitchen, "Just like you told me before, you worked abroad as a dispatched labourer, going wherever there was work. I told A'Pan that although the work is very hard, you can endure hardship and are sensible. You send me money every New Year's holiday, and after drifting around for more than ten years, you're finally willing to come back."

Xiao Yichi: "......"

Back then, in order to keep Auntie Mai from worrying, he made it up as he went along.

Well, retribution has come.

Strictly speaking, the statement of dispatched labour abroad is also correct, but, rhetorically speaking, the words can always be packaged–

"Okay, you go and wash your hands."

"Alright!"

Xiao Yichi went to the bathroom, and the moment he looked into the mirror, he blinked and sighed.

Words can be dressed up easily, but it's a lot of work to disguise the face in the mirror. The skin was rough and lustreless from years of sun and rain, and the dark circles under the eyes couldn't be avoided.

Xiao Yichi touched his face. He was quite satisfied with his appearance before he left home, mainly because he was too far away from Yu Zhinian, but now he was not as good as he wanted to be.

Then look at his own shirt, although it is new, the quality is obviously mediocre. It's not that he didn't have good clothes abroad, it's just that when he packed his luggage for his return, he gave priority to all kinds of books and materials, and the clothes were packed and mailed by him. Who knew that they wouldn't be delivered after half a month, and when he called the local postal service to ask about the international long-distance service, the other party actually said that they had lost them.

Alas, all sorts of leads entangled, leading to the first blind date of his life a big failure, it's really depressing.

"Yichi, are you ready? The sauced pork knuckles have come out of the oven, let me give you a taste first!"

Accompanied by her voice, the strong aroma drifted in. Xiao Yichi squinted his eyes and inhaled lightly, it smelled so good!

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Forget it, time can't be turned back, it's useless to think about it more, it's better to treat the five organs properly.

Yu Zhinian drove his Mercedes Benz back to Xingyue Bay.

Xingyue Bay is a high-class garden community, with low density, good privacy, quietness in the middle of the bustle, and good services.

Yu Zhinian's residence is located in a tower with one unit per floor, with an area of more than two hundred square metres, ceiling height of five metres, south-facing, and a large and bright space.

The fingerprint lock opened, and Yu Zhinian walked in. The cleaning team had already meticulously cleaned. The house had a light wooden fragrance, the floor was clean and the ornaments were shiny. Wherever he went, the sensor lights automatically came on. Until he reached the living room, where a huge three-metre by four-metre oil painting on the tall wall came into view with the lights.

Spring cherry blossoms, the light pink and deep pink scattered about. Falling cherry blossoms filled the sky, light and gorgeous, neither noisy or silent. It was the coexistence of joy and spirituality, permeated with a fragrant vitality, colourful but not messy, great for healing the eyes and the mind.

This was the latest item in his collection that he had bought at the auction house at a high price.

Yu Zhinian stood and admired it for a while, then looked at the time and went back to his study to open his computer, picking important emails to reply to. Afterwards, he saw that it was about time and called Auntie Pan, who picked up quickly on the other end.

"Aunt Pan, we just finished meeting."

"Is that so? How did it go?"

"Not bad, we'll continue to meet." To be honest, he had already forgotten what Xiao Yichi looked like.

"That's great!" The joy from the other end really came through in volume, and the other end added, "Zhinian, in the past, you used to meet once or twice and then it was over. This time, you have to be more patient, and look at what shines in others more, I believe you'll soon find your other half!"

"Mhmm, okay, don't worry."

"That's good. You guys chatted for such a long time, I guess you're very happy with each other. Auntie Mai, who introduced the other person, said that that kid is sensible and reliable, what do you think?"

Perhaps, but he didn't know and didn't need to know.

Yu Zhinian responded to Auntie Pan with a smile, "Yes, quite reliable."

"I heard that he has suffered a lot from working abroad, remember to be more considerate of each other the next time you meet."

"Okay."

"Come over to my place one day when you're free to talk me through the process properly, and I'll give you some guidance."

"No problem."

Ending the call, Yu Zhinian thought back to the blind date process. What he still remembered was nothing more than the touch of Xiao Yichi's calloused palm when he shook hands, and the fact that the black coffee from that cafe was very hard to drink.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Merry Christmas! I decided that today was the best day to start uploading this new novel, as it's like a Christmas present for all my readers. I am quite enjoying this novel so far, and there is currently an audio drama being released for it. I hope you guys can look past the dreadfully short synopsis and give it a chance. 😁

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

Translated: December 18, 2023