His Honey Chapter 18

Chapter 18

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Yu Zhinian sat in the first class section as he began the ten hour flight.

He looked out the window and it was pitch black.

New York, first love. These two terms have recently come together.

Back then, "he" went to New York with a lawyer named Steven Herb. He went to a bookstore, bought a guidebook to New York, and planned to go there.

In the end, he was at the airport, watching the flight to New York change from "boarding" to "departing" on the information board.

He didn't go to New York. He was scared.

His wounded heart was already in a state of shock. He didn't have the courage to get on the plane in the end. He was afraid that he would see that "he" was doing well with someone else, so well that everything he had done would be a superfluous shadow. At that point, where would he go from there?

The past was deeply buried.

But he switched from business to law.

Fearful yes, but resigned.

See, his love life, right from the start, was characterised by "impulsiveness", "sadness", "fear" and "reluctance". The tone was set.

It was like a huge cross, planted in a conspicuous place.

Yu Zhinian would be in New York for about a week. After all, he was the only finalist, and his appointment as senior partner was a foregone conclusion.

In addition to the debriefing, the rest of the social activities were to liaise with the senior management of Fangda headquarters.

On the third day in New York, the "volunteer silhouette" section on the official Weibo page of Beautiful Earth was updated.

Volunteers received training before departure, including how to communicate with local residents, environmental protection knowledge, first aid knowledge, survival skills, and so on.

Yu Zhinian found Xiao Yichi in one of the photos.

He was sitting on a low stool, looking down and concentrating on his notes.

After the debriefing, a group of executives from the Fangda headquarters were very interested in the amazing performance and business growth rate of the Greater China region in recent years, and asked Yu Zhinian to share his experience and predict the trend. The powerful Lawyer Yu, who had a good understanding of the firm's work, gave an impromptu speech.

On the fifth day in New York, Fangda's senior management held a private party and invited Yu Zhinian to attend. Most of the senior partners from North America would be there, as well as various celebrities. This was a social occasion that could not be missed, and Yu Zhinian was invited to attend.

At the party, the executives introduced Yu Zhinian to Tang Wancheng, a young lady from the Tang family, who was the old money of the Chinese circle in New York. Tang Wancheng's father and stepmother had recently donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to renovate the space for the collection of modern and contemporary art. And it was Tang Wancheng who pulled the strings. Her gallery, the Wan Nian Art Gallery, is planning to set up a branch in China to serve as a bridge between Chinese and Western art exchanges. As a legal advisor to a multinational gallery, the top management wanted Yu Zhinian to take over the project, and at the same time establish a relationship with the Tang family to broaden Fangda's network of Chinese people.

Tang Wancheng was about the same age as Yu Zhinian, with delicate eyebrows and a melon-like face, and looked quite young; no one would have suspected her identity as a student if she had put on a student uniform. She seemed to have inquired about Yu Zhinian from others, “Mr. Yu, I heard that you are from B City?"

"Yes, a native of B City."

Tang Wancheng laughed, "What a coincidence, I'm planning to set up my branch in B City."

Yu Zhinian wasn't eager to chat about business and curtly asked, "Why not in the imperial capital? In terms of historical deposits and cultural atmosphere, it's better than B City."

Tang Wancheng was the kind of frank and lively rich girl who survived into her thirties and was still bright and cheerful, "Because I like B City. My good friends are there."

Yu Zhinian was about to continue asking when a male voice inserted, "Zhinian?"

After so many years, he was actually able to recognise his voice with two syllables.

Yu Zhinian was astonished.

Tang Wancheng saw the visitor and smiled, “Mr. Nie, good evening!"

Yu Zhinian turned his face.

The visitor was none other than his first love, Nie Sangning.

Yu Zhinian still remembered the first time he met Nie Sangning. Outside the lively Christmas party, he was sitting in a secluded corner, looking at a worn pocketbook. Nie Sangning raised his head when he realised someone was looking at him.

The moment their eyes met, Yu Zhinian forgot to breathe. The surrounding scenery faded, only the boy in front of him, who was about his own age, shone brightly.

Nie Sangning had both the bones of a westerner and the skin of an oriental. The two sides were delicately balanced, with neither one being overpowered, and they were presented in perfect proportion on his face.

His body was full of the youthfulness and immaturity of a young man, and his gaze was stubborn and arrogant, like a rose with thorns, ready to be released, on guard, and at the same time unconsciously seductive.

Yu Zhinian found his panicked breath and spoke with difficulty, "... What are you looking at?"

Nie Sangning held up the book – Selected Western Poems, "Unfortunately, I can't read it."

"... Let me take a look." Yu Zhinian moved his feet and walked over.

Time was extraordinarily kind to Nie Sangning. It had been a long time since they met, and he had long since lost his youthfulness, but his eyebrows were not tainted with worldliness, and he was handsome, with a generous and decent demeanour.

These years, he should have lived well.

"Zhinian, long time no see. I came to the party with my friends, and during the conversation, I learnt that Fangda's new senior partner is called Yu Zhinian, so I came over to see if it was you." Nie Sangning explained with a smile.

"So the two of you are old friends?" Tang Wancheng was sensible, "Then I won't disturb the gathering of old friends. Mr. Yu, let's get in touch later to talk about the gallery branch?"

"Okay."

Witnessing Tang Wancheng away, Nie Sangning's gaze returned to Yu Zhinian, "... Zhinian, these years, have you been well?"

Yu Zhinian looked towards him, smiling a cloudy smile, "Quite well, thank you for your concern."

He cherished Nie Sangning so much he couldn't afford to touch him for fear that he would be in pain; not long ago they were still speaking words of love to each other, but now he told him that he was leaving with a foreigner.

In a fit of rage, Yu Zhinian took Nie Sangning by force. When he finished, Nie Sangning was bleeding and lay shivering on the bed, crying "Zhinian, I'm sorry," as if he were a broken porcelain doll, falling into tattered cotton wool.

Yu Zhinian sat down on the floor, fearful and dishevelled. What did he do, what did he do?!

Nie Sangning climbed over to embrace him, "Zhinian... I'm sorry. We are both too young, and I, need a shortcut. I only have this face, so when he asked me if I wanted to go with him, I had to say yes. I'm sorry..."

Yu Zhinian was silent.

He cleaned up Nie Sangning's body and took him to the hospital.

He waited at the entrance of the ward for Lawyer Herb. He thought the middle-aged elite lawyer would coldly say see you in court or beat him up severely; but he didn't. He came out of the ward, looked at Yu Zhinian for a while, and said frankly, "Child, the one who is wrong is me, the adult... Let him go, and let yourself go."

Yu Zhinian suddenly wanted to cry, he ran away from the hospital.

Running wildly on the road, he did not know where he was running to.

Finally he ran out of strength, his feet weighed down, and his whole body fell to the ground.

It hurt, it hurt so much.

Yu Zhinian stood on the rooftop, smoking a cigarette.

The last time he smoked, it was in the outer city. He had to help solve the problem of Auntie Mai's son-in-law's company, but also had to take care of the work at hand, and at the end of the day, Xiao Yichi also sent a photo of the Snoopy home clothes, so it was really a double torture of the body and spirit, and he had no choice but to take a few puffs.

In the city's glittering sea of lights, Yu Zhinian stared at New York's rising and falling skyline, thinking, what is Xiao Yichi doing now?

The village where Xiao Yichi was volunteering was on a mountain, and it was a two-hour walk from the foot of the mountain. The village was full of old people and left-behind children, who were both timid and excited about Xiao Yichi's arrival. Some of the children hid behind the adults and poked their heads out, while some held on to the corners of the adults' clothes and stared at them with blinking eyes. The chief of the village introduced them to the situation, most of the residents of the village did not have TV or internet, so in order to learn about the important events, they had to rely on the postmen at the foot of the mountain to deliver the newspaper up the mountain.

At the home of an old man, Xiao Yichi saw newspapers glued to the walls of the entire room. The newspapers had yellowed and there were traces of water seepage. He lived with his four-year-old grandson, and his son and daughter-in-law, who worked far away, could only come back for Chinese New Year.

With no internet access, volunteers had to travel downhill to a nearby village to update their news. If they were lucky, they could meet a car that would give them a ride; if they were unlucky, they had to walk the whole way on two legs. That's why the official Weibo updates were not timely.

On the third day after Yu Zhinian returned from New York, Xiao Yichi's group of volunteers updated for the first time. The content of this issue was the scene of the volunteers gathering the children for hobby classes. In the photo of Xiao Yichi's group, he was telling the children stories by drawing pictures. Yu Zhinian enlarged the photo, Xiao Yichi had drawn a rabbit on the small whiteboard in a stylish way. The latter photos were of the children with the pictures they had drawn during the impromptu storytelling, and Xiao Yichi showed them one by one.

"A girl called 'Dan'er' saw me taking pictures of her drawings and asked if I could include her too, hoping her mum and dad would see it. Other children have made the same request. For those of you in front of your cell phones, if you know their parents, please let them know. What the children need is perhaps proof that they are being thought of."

Yu Zhinian thought to himself, Xiao Yichi's body is filled with so many things. Rich, fulfilling, and supportive to his soul.

The world in his eyes must be vast and boundless.

After Yu Zhinian became a senior partner, his office was moved beside Nan Weiping. With the rise in status, his network of contacts and resources was incomparable. Nan Weiping had been taking Yu Zhinian around to visit his own important clients during the past few days, with the intention of passing on the mantle.

There were some valuable people who could only be met after you've moved up a level and your status has been placed on a pedestal.

Yu Zhinian was also in charge of Tang Wancheng's gallery branch project.

He started another round of busy work.

When he had a few moments to spare, he opened the official Weibo account for Beautiful Earth to see if there were any updates on Xiao Yichi's part of the project.

This time, Xiao Yichi asked the children to be his teachers, teaching him to identify local plants. He listened intently and took notes. The children helped him pick non-toxic leaves and paste them in his notebook. Different children pasted the leaves in different ways. The shapes were different, but they were very vivid. Flipping through the pages of the paper was like watching a short film, and at any time, one could brainstorm a heavenly story.

Yu Zhinian's eyes stayed on the photo of Xiao Yichi smiling broadly with narrowed eyes.

He suddenly envied him.

He envied him for his openness and spontaneity, for his energy, and for the delicacy hidden in his wildness.

Between he and him, in fact, there was a huge gulf.

The concrete advancement of the gallery branch project could not be carried out only through phone calls and emails. Tang Wancheng informed Yu Zhinian that she would send a contact over to B City next week to work with Yu Zhinian on the preliminary phase of the project. Yu Zhinian should be okay with them.

On Xiao Yichi's side, he was teaching the children to write poetry.

Yu Zhinian looked at the photos and remembered that Xiao Yichi once wrote in an article, "It is said that the economic base determines the superstructure, and that artistic creations such as painting, music, and literature are high-level hobbies that one can only have time to think about when one is materially affluent, but I have a different idea. These spiritual pursuits are precisely the salvation of people when they are most powerless to resist the external environment. They are another form of crying out for people in great distress."

This time, at the back of the photo, Xiao Yichi simply attached a poem written by an eight-year-old.

"My eyes are very big, they can hold mountains/can hold the sea/can hold the blue sky/can hold the whole world. My eyes are so small that sometimes when I encounter something in my mind/even two lines of tears/can't fit."

Xiao Yichi's delicacy came from his insight into the world of human affairs and his understanding of the art world.

When Yu Zhinian arrived at the airport at the agreed time to pick up the person, the contact person for the Wan Nian Art Gallery was not the one he had previously agreed upon.

Because this person, was Nie Sangning.

Nie Sangning looked at Yu Zhinian and smiled, "Zhinian, we meet again, I hope we have a pleasant cooperation."

He told Yu Zhinian that the previously promised person had a temporary assignment, and he had just joined the Wan Nian Art Gallery and had no projects in hand, so it was perfect for him.

Yu Zhinian asked, "If I remember correctly, last time you said you were employed at Li Weige Gallery?"

Nie Sangning smiled gently, "I resigned."

Yu Zhinian didn't ask anything more, "I'll send you to the hotel to rest first." He wanted to take the bag Nie Sangning was carrying, but the other party would not let go, "Zhinian, I'm hungry, will you accompany me to eat something?"

When Yu Zhinian and Nie Sangning appeared in the hotel restaurant, they became the focus of attention for everyone present intentionally or unintentionally, they were too eye-catching. Moreover, their looks and temperaments subtly matched each other, walking together had the effect that 1+1 was greater than 2, making people unable to resist sighing, "a perfect match".

The two sat down to look at the menu, but Nie Sangning flipped to the dessert page and laughed, "After all these years, I still like to eat dessert first, especially tiramisu."

Yu Zhinian was calm and did not answer.

Nie Sangning looked carefully at the menu, seemingly not caring if he spoke or not. After a while, he looked up and asked Yu Zhinian, "What would you like to order?"

"Business set B."

"Then I'll do the same as you, plus a Tiramisu." He smiled, closing the menu.

In the past, when they went out to eat together, it was the same. Yu Zhinian waited for him to look at it for half a day, and in the end, he always ended up getting a "same as you". But at that time, he wasn't annoyed at all, and even felt that this waiting time was sweet, wishing that Nie Sangning would look at it longer, so that he could look at him longer.

While waiting for the food to be served, Yu Zhinian took out his cell phone to check his schedule and looked towards Nie Sangning, “Take a break today, there's a meeting at Fangda tomorrow, at nine o'clock."

Nie Sangning quickly got into his role, he took out the tablet from his handbag, "I read the draft programme on the plane, I have some ideas, I want to discuss them with you first."

A meal turned into a work meal.

Leaving the restaurant, Yu Zhinian mentally predicted that they could discuss the next step in tomorrow's meeting. The idea given by Nie Sangning was very good, and their progress could be pushed forward.

"Zhinian, I'll go back up first." In front of the elevator, Nie Sangning smiled faintly and bid him goodbye.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Yu Zhinian watched the elevator doors close. The moment the elevator doors were about to close completely, Nie Sangning's eyes could almost be said to be deep in love. The elevator doors swung shut firmly, and everything came to a screeching halt, as if he had seen it all, and as if he hadn't.

Yu Zhinian stood, staring at the pattern on the elevator door for a while, before he turned to leave.

There were no updates from Xiao Yichi's group of volunteers.

Yu Zhinian repeatedly scrolled up and down to confirm the most recent update, and there was no content from them. He had a bad feeling, so he used his senior partner privileges to check the list of the firm's partners.

Yu Zhinian found the contact number for Beautiful Earth and sent a text message to identify himself, explaining that the situation was urgent and asking the other party to find out the current status of Xiao Yichi before getting back to him.

After a while, the other party called Yu Zhinian.

Due to days of heavy rain in the local area, the mountain village where Xiao Yichi was located suffered a landslide, "The Mr. Xiao you mentioned was injured because he saved two children, and has been sent to the hospital in town for treatment. The condition of the injuries can only be confirmed by further communication."

"I understand, please help me make further contact to confirm his injuries, thank you." Yu Zhinian ended this call and immediately dialled the next phone number to learn more about the situation through multiple channels.

Nan Jing was woken up by the morning alarm. He dazedly reached for his mobile phone to turn off the ringtone, but saw that his boss had sent him a message two hours ago: I've already boarded the high-speed train to X City, postpone today's work for me, I'll contact you again when I return.

He immediately woke up and rushed to work.

On the high-speed train, Yu Zhinian had already grasped the general situation. Xiao Yichi's fate was great, he managed to escape the deadly boulder flow and was only scratched by the debris, there were many wounds, but they were not serious.

It was already late afternoon when he arrived at the town hospital. A nurse was waiting for him, "I have just checked on the Mr. Xiao you mentioned, he has already had lunch and taken medicine to sleep. His injuries are quite light among this set of injured, do you still plan to transfer him to the city's hospital?"

"... I'll take a look at the situation before deciding anything."

The town hospital's facilities were limited, and a large ward was full of injured people. Yu Zhinian asked the nurse to check if Xiao Yichi was asleep. The nurse finished checking and nodded at him from afar.

If Xiao Yichi was awake, he would never have gone in.

"Two young men came to visit him in the morning, I guess they went to eat. If you don't want people to know that you came, try to come out in ten minutes." The nurse said softly to him and finished going to check on the other injured people.

Yu Zhinian looked at Xiao Yichi lying on the hospital bed – He was wearing an ill-fitting hospital gown, receiving fluids, with white gauze wrapped around him here and there. Although his injuries weren't serious, it was ominous to look at.

Yu Zhinian walked a little closer. The person in question was doing well, he was sleeping soundly, breathing long and hard, almost snoring.

He reached his hand out, wanting to touch his head. When he realised his intention, he drew back his hand.

After ten minutes, Yu Zhinian left.

Walking out of the hospital, he dialled the phone and asked for help transferring Xiao Yichi to a hospital in the city.

Sitting on the return high-speed train, Yu Zhinian proceeded to deal with his work. Nie Sangning sent him a picture of the new office: Our art gallery's temporary office is in the office building near your law firm, which is convenient for communicating about the establishment of the gallery. I heard that you have a temporary assignment and have postponed the meeting. You've worked hard, pay attention to your health.

After reading the message, Yu Zhinian pulled his thoughts out of his work and turned to look out of the train window.

After the New York banquet, he learnt about Nie Sangning's situation in the United States.

After Nie Sangning arrived in the United States, he married Lawyer Herb. He then studied art history for four years and went on to get a master's degree in art management. After graduation, he worked as a curator at a local gallery. Soon after, he divorced Attorney Herb. Two years later, he married a Wall Street banker and transferred to Li Weige Gallery. Three years ago, he divorced the banker.

The trees outside the window were heavy with shadows, and the rapidly receding silhouettes kept skimming by making a curtain for his five senses, causing Yu Zhinian's face to become mottled.

Inside the independent ward of X City Hospital.

The person in charge of the volunteer activities for Beautiful Earth was explaining to Xiao Yichi, "You were injured as a result of your bravery and the town's medical conditions are limited, so we transferred you to the city's hospital in the hope that you'll recover as soon as possible."

"Oh." Xiao Yichi rubbed the back of his head and laughed, "Like I said, I woke up and was told that I was being transferred to another hospital, and my entire being was confused." He looked at the person in charge, "It seems that your work is implemented meticulously, it's worth learning."

The person in charge smiled but didn't say anything. He changed the topic and took out the drawings that the two rescued children drew for Xiao Yichi and handed them to him.

Xiao Yichi took them, happily surprised. The hero in the children's eyes was Sun Dasheng. In the drawing, Xiao Yichi wore a phoenix-winged purple and gold crown on his head, held an oversized golden banded stick in his hand, and wore a big red cape. It was the kind of majestic drawing that children drew crookedly stroke by stroke.

"So handsome!" Xiao Yichi smiled until his eyes couldn't be seen.

"Because of this landslide, your group's volunteer activities had to end early. Take a good rest, the doctor's instructions. We'll come back to send you to the city when you can be discharged."

"Okay, thanks!"

The next day, Yu Zhinian, who only slept for four hours, came to the law firm.

The meeting at the Wan Nian Art Gallery branch was scheduled as the first item on the agenda.

The staff at the law firm had seen the world, to say the least, but when the men and women saw Nie Sangning, they all stopped in their tracks and lingered for a while.

Nie Sangning politely nodded and smiled at them.

When Nan Jing, who was leading the way, met a lawyer of high status, he would introduce them, "This is the representative of the Wan Nian Art Gallery, Mr. Nie Sangning." Nie Sangning gently and courteously shook hands with the other party and asked for guidance.

The rendezvous lasted more than an hour. Both sides showed a professional attitude and level at the meeting, and the next schedule was quickly finalised.

As Yu Zhinian sent Nie Sangning away, Nan Jing had already walked up to him, pushed up his glasses, and started gossiping in a serious manner, "Boss, this Mr. Nie is truly magical, our institute is already in a state of spring."

Lawyer Yu was amused by his assistant's choice of words and rubbed his hair, "Less talk, more work."

Nan Jing gave him a thumbs up, "Worthy of being our boss, sitting in your arms without chaos, heart as calm as water!"

This idiom was used well.

Yu Zhinian turned around and went back to his office, commanding Nan Jing, "Bring me back a cup of black coffee."

"Okay!"

In order to catch up with the work progress that he dropped yesterday, Yu Zhinian held two video conferences back to back. When he returned to his senses from reviewing the investment agreement, Nan Jing was still missing.

Just when he wanted to make a call, Nan Jing returned with coffee in both hands.

Yu Zhinian leaned back in his chair and looked at him, "Welcome back from Mars."

"Boss, let me talk about the details later, first try this freshly brewed black coffee!"

Yu Zhinian took it, it wasn't the brand he usually drank all the time. But the moment he opened the lid, the rich, bitter aroma told him it was of a higher quality.

He glanced at Nan Jing, who made a gesture of inviting him to drink, and Yu Zhinian took a sip.

This sip made him unconsciously close his eyes to enjoy it – A primitive roughness collided with mellowness and depth, and the bitter flavour lingered between his teeth for a long time.

"When I got downstairs, I happened to run into Mr. Nie who hadn't gone far, and when he heard I was going to buy you coffee, he asked me to wait in his office. Their place isn't fully furnished yet, but they do have a very professional hand-ground coffee machine. Mr. Nie was meticulous in every step, starting from boiling the water to the final filtration, so there was a time delay, but I felt it was worth it when I smelled that coffee aroma."

Nan Jing's expression was playful as he pushed his glasses, "Boss, I think Mr. Nie is quite compatible with you."

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhinian seemed to smile, "What did I just tell you?"

Nan Jing obediently shut up, turned around and went out to work.

This cup of black coffee, it's to say thank you.

Yu Zhinian had just picked up his cell phone when this message came.

Nie Sangning: I saw that you were a bit tired this morning, and I just happened to run into your assistant who was planning to go buy coffee, so I took matters into my own hands.

Did you drink the black coffee? How's the flavour?

Yu Zhinian replied: I drank it, it tastes good. Thank you. Everyone is busy with work, so please don't bother in the future.

After a while, Nie Sangning responded: Zhinian, I can make delicious coffee now.

Yu Zhinian gently put his cell phone back on the desk and breathed gently. If it was too heavy, he was afraid that the memories would come crashing back like a flood.

But he couldn't read a single word on the computer screen.

The memories still leaked out a little.

In Nie Sangning's shabby little rented apartment, Yu Zhinian had once laughed at him for not being able to brew coffee well, "I'll brew it for you in the future."

Nie Sangning pursed his lips and nuzzled himself into his arms as if he were a spoiled brat.

Yu Zhinian thought they were the only pair of identical souls in the world.

Nie Sangning's mother was a waitress at a foreign hotel, and after spending the night with a foreign guest, she became pregnant. This watery marriage naturally went nowhere, and Nie Sangning's mother ran around with the child all by herself.

Nie Sangning has been a good-looking boy since he was a child, but his harsh upbringing has taken its toll on him, and he has become tough, sensitive and withdrawn. As he grew up, his looks began to bring him all sorts of benefits. They were his only weapon against the outside world. It was all he had, and it was the reason for his existence.

Yu Zhinian empathised with him. Two young, restless, uneasy, lonely souls, drawing close to each other.

They were out of place in the world, Yu Zhinian thought, but fortunately they had each other.

What he didn't know was that Nie Sangning had developed an ambition in the lustrous modelling industry, or had developed an illusion, what it was was no longer available. He no longer fought against the outside world; he approached it with his beauty.

And Yu Zhinian began to think about their future. Although he didn't want to admit it, he did inherit the blood of a businessman from his father, he had a business mind, and his first foray into the stock market yielded promising results. He wanted to surprise Nie Sangning and didn't tell him about it.

Nie Sangning met with Lawyer Herb.

Yu Zhinian was deeply frustrated by his betrayal.

For a long time afterwards, he thought about what kind of identity he would face Nie Sangning with when he appeared in front of him again one day. What kind of expression he should use, what kind of words he should say – He thought about this over and over again every single day and it became an obsession, mixed with all sorts of complex emotions.

Hatred, regret, longing, resignation, and even an obsessive plea to get back together.

Time passed, reaching the present.

Yu Zhinian stood up and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window.

Now, what does he think about him?

‿︵‿︵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: February 6, 2024