His Honey Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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Inside the VIP studio of a fitness centre in the central business district.

After Xiao Yichi finished a set of bench presses, his chest rose and fell, and he said to his trainer, "Let's do another set."

Da Shan, who was his trainer, laughed, "You're really working up the intensity throughout the day today, aren't you?"

"Not really, I'm seeing if I can speed up the blood circulation, boost skin metabolism and stuff."

Da Shan was amused by his words, "Exercise should be gradual, what's the point of using our emotions." Saying this, he reached out and pulled Xiao Yichi up, "You said you were going on a blind date before, did the other party say something?"

Xiao Yichi wiped his sweat with a towel, "Worthy of being a former scout, you guessed right."

Da Shan was a member of the escort fleet before he retired. Xiao Yichi stayed with them on the ship for a month due to his work, and became acquainted with them from that.

"What kind of background does the other party have, to actually make you anxious about your face?" Da Shan set a ten-minute break on his watch.

Xiao Yichi grinned, "That sounds like you're belittling me."

He really hadn't thought about the matter of appearance before, but the overwhelming discussion about appearance in China had refreshed his perception, and the outright comparison with Yu Zhinian and the other party's stark wording had made him think about whether or not he should put some effort into his appearance.

"I'm very much in favour of reasonably becoming handsome, for example through a healthy diet, regular exercise and good work and rest; but trying to pull up the seedlings to help them grow, I think it's too much."

"Hey hey, why does this 'pull up seedlings to help them grow' sound so unpleasant!" Xiao Yichi flung a towel in the direction of Da Shan.

"That blind date of yours, is he handsome? Is there a sense of distance?"

The scout's judgement hit the nail on the head.

Xiao Yichi admitted, "Yes." He looked around at the high-rises outside the floor-to-ceiling glass windows and tried to ask, "You've had this gym for a few years now in this part of the finance district, haven't you? Have you heard of the man 'Yu Zhinian'?"

Da Shan's movement of drinking water faltered and he put it down, "You went on a blind date with 'Yu Zhinian'?"

Yu Zhinian's clothing and demeanour showed that he was not an ordinary nine to nine, six days a week salaryman, he should be a celebrity. Xiao Yichi looked at Da Shan's reaction and thought bingo.

Xiao Yichi nodded, "He also works out at your fitness centre?"

"No. My place here is only considered a beginner's consumption place, those of their tier will go to a more advanced one. But their law firm has some employees who are our regular clients. One way or another, I've heard a lot about Lawyer Yu."

Xiao Yichi took a sip of water, "Tell me about him?"

Da Shan frowned, "He's your blind date, don't you know anything about him?"

Xiao Yichi touched his nose, "That's why I'm asking..." 

"Fangda Law Firm where he works is a multinational law firm, and I heard that the water is very deep. Yu Zhinian was once relegated to a second-tier city to expand the business, but two years later he not only came back, but also ended the colleagues who caused him trouble. After that, his career went smoothly and he became a partner of the firm. Now he is striving to become a senior partner. I've heard that he's very handsome, but he's very shrewd, not a good person."

Seeing that Xiao Yichi didn't reply, Da Shan was concerned, "Do you really want to date him?"

"It's not my place to decide, okay? He said that we don't have a chance the first time we met. I'm just curious as to what kind of story would be behind such a person."

At this moment, Da Shan's watch alarm beeped. "Why are you still dwelling on it so much when there's no chance? Come on, let's continue!"

At night, bedtime.

Xiao Yichi dragged his sore and limp body towards the bed to lie down. Another reason he increased his exercise was that his insomnia had worsened. In addition to not easily adapting to jet lag at an older age, nightmares were also one of the culprits.

He was a journalist. Having been abroad for more than a decade, half of his time was spent travelling through various war zones.

Smoke, cries, blood, flesh, pain... scenes that he seemed to have overcome, upon returning home, appeared one by one in his dreams, like a haunting.

The reason why he lapsed and agreed to this unreliable blind date was, mostly because he wanted to find the centre of gravity of his new life.

Xiao Yichi muttered, "I have to go to the hospital tomorrow..."

The next day, Xiao Yichi came out of the hospital, feeling as if this doctor had seen it, but also as if he hadn't.

In addition to the regular sleep-aiding medication, it was nothing more than a suggestion to find some fun in life to divert his attention and so on.

At this time, he received a message from Yu Zhinian: Do you have time this Saturday? Is it convenient to meet?

Xiao Yichi raised his eyebrows. The fun is here.

On Saturday morning, Xiao Yichi woke up early, grooming himself more carefully than the first time they met. For this day, he has been applying face masks all week (bought from the live broadcast, a big brand, buy one get six free, picked up at a great bargain). His clothes had been carefully chosen and ironed the night before to make sure there were no creases. A styling spray was applied and his hair was done. Failure does not matter, the most important thing is where to fall and where to get up!

At ten o'clock in the morning, Xiao Yichi had just stepped out of the neighbourhood when he was attracted by a figure on the opposite side of the street.

Yu Zhinian wore a nearly blue shirt with a pair of beige trousers underneath. Behind him was a black Tesla SUV.

Xiao Yichi approached and realised that the shirt was lined with a pattern, and the shirt was quite stiff as a result. With a colour like this, a little carelessness would make it look tawdry or old-fashioned, but Yu Zhinian had tamed the colour, and it served his face and image obediently, making him look like a noble gentleman, stripped of dust and independence.

He wanted to tell Yu Zhinian that this colour had a very nice name – yutang rui. But saying it out loud was rather like showing off his knowledge. Xiao Yichi smiled, "You look good today."

Yu Zhinian smiled, "So do you."

Saying that, the two of them got into the car.

"Thank you for being willing to accompany me to choose clothes. That art exhibition next week is displaying my favourite painter, I'm quite looking forward to it." Yu Zhinian politely said.

"You're welcome. Alma Francis is indeed a wonderful painter, I like her a lot too."

Yu Zhinian turned his head to look at him and smiled, "Why don't we go to the exhibition together next week?"

Xiao Yichi paused for a moment, then smiled, "Sure."

"It's okay if you're not available." Yu Zhinian noticed his hesitation.

Xiao Yichi followed his words, "It's fine, I'll just move it around." In fact, his hesitation wasn't a matter of being available or not.

In the midst of small talk, they arrived at an upscale shopping centre in the city.

Yu Zhinian and Xiao Yichi arrived at the flagship shop of a famous brand, and the shop assistant greeted them, "Gentlemen, welcome. What kind of clothing are you looking for today?"

"There's a pretty important art exhibition I need to attend next week, what do you recommend?"

At this time, the shop manager came out and said with a smile, "Mr. Yu, you always have ideas, don't bully our newcomers. I'll bring you over here, I've already sorted out the clothes you're interested in." At this moment, the shop manager turned to Xiao Yichi, "Hello! I don't know what to call you?"

Xiao Yichi returned a smile, "My surname is Xiao."

"Good day Mr. Xiao. Would you also like to see if there are any clothes you are interested in and try them on?"

"Okay." Xiao Yichi answered.

Yu Zhinian turned back and looked at him, "Alright, try on anything you like." Then he looked at the shop assistant, "If Mr. Xiao has something he likes, wrap it up for him."

"Okay."

As Yu Zhinian and the shop manager spoke in unison, it dawned on Xiao Yichi that Yu Zhinian's purpose for this trip was not to pick out his own clothes, but to pick out clothes for him.

Xiao Yichi thought back to the first time he met Yu Zhinian when he took one sip of a cup of black coffee and stopped touching it. If he doesn't like what he sees, he won't touch it again. If he is forced to touch it, then he will do it the way he wants.

Xiao Yichi almost laughed.

Yu Zhinian quickly and accurately picked out a few tops for himself before turning to Xiao Yichi's side.

The shop manager personally chose a few pieces for Xiao Yichi and invited him to try them on.

Entering the dressing room, Xiao Yichi looked at himself in the fitting mirror and smiled.

Interesting.

This was really a lot of fun.

As he changed clothes, he looked down at his six-pack abs and felt a sense of comfort in his heart. At least he had preserved his figure, so that he wouldn't be unpleasant to look at.

When Xiao Yichi came out of the changing room, the shop manager praised, "Mr. Xiao, you look great! All your physical strengths are on display this time, you're a proper handsome man!"

The shop manager gave a thumbs up.

Xiao Yichi knew in his heart whether he was handsome or not. He looked at Yu Zhinian, who smiled and nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Wrap up Mr. Xiao's set."

"Okay."

At this time, Yu Zhinian's cell phone rang. He apologetically said to Xiao Yichi, "A call from work, I'll step out to answer it."

Xiao Yichi nodded in understanding.

The shop manager came over again, "Mr. Xiao, Mr. Yu has picked out a set of casual clothes for you, would you like to try them on as well?"

Xiao Yichi was full of smiles, "No need to try, wrap it up"

Don't ask who is paying for these, if you do, it's Yu Zhinian.

The shop manager understood and acted sharply.

While Yu Zhinian was talking about business, Xiao Yichi picked out a tie by himself, paid for it with his own credit card, and had the shop assistant wrap it up.

This was the end of their second meeting.

Yu Zhinian had an impromptu meeting, so he sent Xiao Yichi back to his neighbourhood, not forgetting to thank him, "Thank you for shopping with me today."

Xiao Yichi laughed, "It's me who should thank you for getting such a great benefit." He held up the paper bag, referring to the two sets of clothes, and then said, "A gift for a gift." He took out the packaged tie box from the paper bag and handed it over, "This is my return gift. I'm very happy today, thank you!"

Yu Zhinian didn't know he had this in store for him, and took the box, "You're welcome, then we'll be in touch next week?"

"Okay."

Yu Zhinian returned to his apartment, took the clothes out of the paper bag and hung them in the wardrobe in the entrance hall. The maid would be responsible for cleaning them. He finally opened the gift from Xiao Yichi. A tie, the colour could not be said to be brown or black, it was uncommon and not Yu Zhinian's favourite colour.

The aesthetics of the other party is at this level, it couldn't force Yu Zhinian to remember when they greeted each other today. The scent of Xiao Yichi's styling spray was too industrialised, and a single sniff told him that the quality was average; the clothes he wore were also too deliberately dressed up, which in Yu Zhinian's opinion meant that he was bent on currying favour with him. In the past, even if his blind date wanted to curry favour, they would dress up meticulously without any traces. A person like Xiao Yichi, who could be seen through at a glance, was a special case. Also, he said in the car that he liked Alma Francis, but he didn't know that real fans of her paintings would call her "Alfa"? When invited to the exhibition, he obviously hesitated, presumably because the knowledge he had acquired last-minute wasn't enough for the exhibition.

He was being considerate, as Auntie Pan had told him to be, and had taken a roundabout way of dressing him – after all, they'd be going out together again in the future, and he really didn't agree with the other man's taste in clothes.

His eyes fell once again on the tie in his hand. This tie was not on the bill, it should have been paid for by Xiao Yichi himself. Yu Zhinian knew very well how much that shop cost. Forget it, let's hang it up first. He hung the tie next to the array of new clothes.

Just as he was about to close the cupboard door, Yu Zhinian realised something and opened it again.

This oddly coloured tie actually looked quite good with his new clothes. He took out the tie and casually grabbed a shirt, and changed into them on the spot.

When he went to the mirror, the tie, shirt and himself looked very harmonious.

This was too much of a coincidence, wasn't it?

Back home, Xiao Yichi took out the two sets of clothes to hang up and deliberately looked at the washing label, they all need to be dry-cleaned, but also must have "professional care". He scratched his head, Yu Zhinian bought clothes for him with such dedication, why not assign him a team of professionals to deal with the trivialities before and after wearing them?

In a word, Yu Zhinian only cares about how he feels when he sees something, and he doesn't care when he can't see it.

Xiao Yichi gently patted his head and reflected: he was assertive all day today. It's not easy to comment. You can describe what you see, but an in-depth investigation before jumping to conclusions is essential, especially for people, he smiled bitterly. He has been writing news for more than ten years and still can not help but rely only on the two-sided relationship and indirect hearings to label Yu Zhinian, not to mention that Yu Zhinian, who has been immersed in the elite circle, has been involved in open and secret fights.

Thinking about it like that, he looked away. He also thought about the tie he had given to Yu Zhinian. Yu Zhinian was out on the phone at the time, and he deliberately looked at the colour of the shirt that Yu Zhinian had picked out.

The colour of the matching tie he picked was called yanmo, which is the colour of September; steady, dignified, and signifies harvest.

Speaking of that art exhibition next week. He and Alma Francis were old friends. When Alma went to the Middle East, a Spanish journalist friend introduced her to Xiao Yichi, who was learning Spanish. With one enthusiastic and lively, and the other shamelessly learning the language, the two quickly became friends and travelled together.

On the way, they encountered local opposition bombing the city, and cell phone signal was not available. The two were trapped in a ruined house, relying on two bottles of water and two pieces of bread to survive. He gave two-thirds of his bread to Alma. In case there was a chance of survival, he wanted her to live, because he had seen too many innocent women and children die in the war. The men fought for their beliefs, leaving the women and children as targets for the ruthless war machine. If he could, he would never stand by and be a bystander. They were trapped for three days before help came to rescue them.

The two men were plastered with dirt and dust, but Alma confessed her feelings to him.

"I'm sorry, I'm gay."

Alma was disappointed, "Can't you try?"

"I've tried, and I can't."

She lamented, "All good men are gay."

Xiao Yichi reassured her, "Good women end up happy."

"Can I ask you for a kiss? Just one."

Xiao Yichi thought about it, "Okay."

"The deep kiss kind."

"All right."

After that, they kept in touch. Two years later, Alma said she had finished a painting she wanted to give to him. He was travelling around and couldn't receive it, so the painting was left with her. When he returned home, the painting was shipped to a gallery in China. Xiao Yichi went to the gallery to sign for it, and the three-metre by three-metre painting was much more impressive than what he had seen in the video. The painting was titled A Midnight in the Middle East, but it was a yellow sky with black stars – yellow being the colour of the skin and black being the colour of the eyes.

The owner of the gallery was there in person, hoping that Xiao Yichi would agree to lend the painting as a special collection for next month's exhibition.

"That's not a problem."

"Are you coming on the opening day? I can introduce you to the other collectors."

"No, I'm not used to such occasions."

"Okay, if you change your mind, please feel free to contact me."

Thinking of this, Xiao Yichi decided to call the other party and asked them to keep it a secret in front of Yu Zhinian.

Alma Francis was a modernist painter who had been a big hit in the art world in recent years, and a single painting of hers would auction for as low as two million US dollars. She herself could not be present this time, but everyone heard that she had unrevealed paintings to be unveiled in this exhibition.

Xiao Yichi stood in the middle of the exhibition hall in his expensive clothes, watching people come and go. There were a lot of people, but everyone was orderly, occasionally talking in low voices, and the background music in the space was clearly audible. Yu Zhinian was talking to someone not far away. He was wearing the tie Xiao Yichi had chosen for him.

Although he couldn't draw conclusions about him, Xiao Yichi felt that there was a little devil in his head. The little devil whispered in his ear early this morning that Yu Zhinian would definitely not wear the tie he gave him. But when Yu Zhinian wore the tie to pick him up, the little devil went to the corner to draw circles.

Yu Zhinian returned to Xiao Yichi and asked with a smile, "What do you think of this painting exhibition?"

Xiao Yichi nodded and praised, "It's very good."

They walked to A Midnight in the Middle East, and Yu Zhinian said, "This is Alfa's unreleased painting!"

Hearing the name "Alfa", the little devil spun around in Xiao Yichi's head, "Did you hear that? You were wrong to address Alfa directly last time! You're an unqualified 'painting fan'! An imposter!"

Xiao Yichi was really aggrieved.

Yu Zhinian looked at the painting and said, "Alfa rarely uses colours like yellow and black, I wonder if this will mark a change in her creative direction. What do you think?"

"... I don't think so."

Yu Zhinian pursued, "Why?"

There wasn't much information publicly available about the painting, and Xiao Yichi didn't reveal the truth.

Thus, his answer was perfunctory, "It feels that way." Yu Zhinian's eyes flashed with a hint of displeasure, and he didn't say anything else.

He looked into the distance, "Sorry, I saw an acquaintance, excuse me for a moment."

"Okay."

The little devil spoke again, "Yu Zhinian is very dissatisfied with your answer! You made him angry!" But it looked happy, "How would he look if he knew you were the owner of this painting? Hehehe~"

Xiao Yichi lowered his head and hid his mouth to smile.

Yu Zhinian was indeed displeased. Originally, he had slightly changed his opinion of Xiao Yichi because of the tie matter, but now it seems that the tie he was wearing now was nothing more than the other party's lucky choice. Knowing that he was coming to the painting exhibition, even if he didn't have enough knowledge, he should have done his homework properly, but what about him? Not a single concrete feeling could be expressed. Such an attitude had never appeared in his previous blind dates. It's true that the circle determines the height. Neither looks, nor taste, nor attitude, it was as if they were out to have fun. If it wasn't for the fact that he had agreed to meet four times in the beginning, Yu Zhinian really didn't want to waste his time.

‿︵‿︵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: December 18, 2023