Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 51
Welcome to the World of Commoners
“What kind of ridiculous tradition is this? I haven’t even heard of it…” Gu Jiahe turned his face, wanting to escape, but his voice drowned in a passionate kiss.
After a thick and intimate kiss, Li Zhao’s eyes became somewhat elusive.
“Get on.” He lifted his chin, softly demanding.
“Hey, aren’t you going a bit too far?” Gu Jiahe was now truly in a dilemma.
Li Zhao suddenly put on a pitiful expression. “Jiahe, I’m so tired today, I spent the whole night setting off fireworks in the cold wind, and drove back and forth for over an hour. Right now, my whole body longs for a release, can’t you understand and sympathize with me a bit?”
“Didn’t I cook dinner?” Gu Jiahe couldn’t help but retort.
Li Zhao didn’t argue with him, pointing to a spot under the blanket, “Just lower your head and take a look. Is it time for negotiation now?”
…
When Gu Jiahe woke up again, he doubted if he had traveled through time. It was night when he closed his eyes, but why was it dusk when he opened them?
He had helped his grandmother with some farm work when he was young, only knowing that bending over to plant seedlings was tiring, and he envied those people riding bikes by the riverbank.
Now he knew that riding a ‘bike’ could be exhausting enough to kill someone.
Li Zhao really did as he said, finishing the entire half box, all five of them.
The whole night, Gu Jiahe felt like he had died several times and come back to life several times.
At this moment, he took a deep breath and could even smell a hint of embarrassment lingering in the room.
He no longer believed Li Zhao’s excuses. Talking about being tired all over, longing for a release and wanting him to understand, but in the end, he had practically dismantled his own bone structure.
Turning his head, he saw Li Zhao wasn’t lying on the bed anymore, the bedroom door was half open.
Sometime in the night, he had changed into a set of pajamas, large and loose, probably belonging to Li Zhao.
When he walked into the living room, he found Li Zhao already waiting for him.
Li Zhao sat upright, looking as if the absurdity of last night was not his doing at all.
Fortunately, he had a conscience, stewing a pot of millet porridge placed on the table, and making some light dishes.
Gu Jiahe sat at the table, scrutinizing his face for a while, prompting Li Zhao to touch his own cheek.
“What? Is there something on my face?”
“Yes.” Gu Jiahe nodded solemnly.
“What is it?”
“A despicable beast in fine clothes.”
Li Zhao chuckled, surprisingly not retorting.
Gu Jiahe finished his porridge and sat with his legs crossed on the chair, opening his phone to check for unread messages.
Li Zhao’s phone, placed on the table, rang. He glanced at it and answered, “Hello, Mom.”
Hearing this term, Gu Jiahe subconsciously tightened his arms.
Li Zhao turned on the speakerphone, Gu Jiahe sat across from him, lips tightly sealed, not uttering a word.
The conversation was simple. Li Zhao’s mother asked how he was spending the New Year there, whether he was busy with work.
After Li Zhao answered each question, he heard a cough from the other end of the phone. He quickly asked, “Is Dad okay?”
Li Zhao’s father took over the call and replied, “I’m fine, just a bit of a cough.”
Li Zhao hummed in response, then gave a few instructions before hanging up.
On the first and second day of the New Year, Li Zhao let Gu Jiahe sleep peacefully. It wasn’t until the third day that Li Zhao left early in the morning to go to the client’s company he had arranged with Qin Yi.
Gu Jiahe had nothing to do, so he slept until noon, then packed up and returned to his rented apartment.
Just a few days of absence, and several flyers were stuffed into his door handle, all from real estate agencies. These agents were really working hard, even climbing up to his top floor in this old walk-up building.
Gu Jiahe picked one up casually and was shocked by the property prices listed on it. Houses in North City were assets he couldn’t afford even if he worked for a lifetime.
After cleaning up the dusty apartment, he looked around. The household items were almost used up, so he needed to go to the supermarket.
He made himself a meal alone at home, finished everything, and then sat by the floral glass window.
Year after year, it seemed that nothing had changed in this city. Cars still roamed endlessly, pedestrians still hurried. There would always be lonely people recklessly entering this city, then finding a place to settle down gradually.
Before, Gu Jiahe didn’t have much affection for North City, but during these few days of the New Year, he inexplicably found a sense of belonging here.
Around five in the afternoon, Li Zhao sent a message on WeChat: “Where are you? Want to go out for dinner tonight?”
Gu Jiahe thought for a moment, then replied, “Let’s eat something casual, I need to go to the supermarket tonight.”
Shortly after, Li Zhao replied, “Okay.”
In less than half an hour, Li Zhao’s car stopped at the entrance of his residential area.
Gu Jiahe put on his coat and went downstairs, getting into the passenger seat. “Drive to the intersection ahead and turn left.”
Li Zhao nodded. “Okay.”
“How was your meeting today?” Gu Jiahe asked, fastening his seatbelt.
“We signed the contract, and they assigned tasks to me right away.” Li Zhao sighed, “I’ve never dealt with this kind of company business before, and their contract categories are so diverse.”
When he heard his old field being mentioned, Gu Jiahe asked, “What kind of contract?”
“They have a contract for network marketing and promotion, which I’ve never dealt with before. I quickly glanced at it, but some terms are a bit unclear.”
“Tsk.” Gu Jiahe suddenly laughed.
“What are you laughing at?”
“You’ve played into my hands. Tonight, I’ll show you, I’ve dealt with this kind of contract before.”
“You truly live up to being Manager Gu, your knowledge is so broad.”
“Don’t forget, I scored three points higher than you in the subjective test.” Gu Jiahe held out three fingers, teasing.
Li Zhao looked at his smug face through the rearview mirror and smiled.
Gu Jiahe took Li Zhao to a buffet restaurant.
“Don’t complain about it being cheap. I used to come here often with colleagues.” Gu Jiahe pushed open the glass door, with Li Zhao following behind him.
Li Zhao glanced around the restaurant. Although the space wasn’t large, it was clean and tidy, and the ingredients looked fresh.
As soon as they entered, a waiter hurried over. “Scan the QR code to order.”
Li Zhao took out his phone to scan the code, but Gu Jiahe stopped him.
“What’s wrong?” Li Zhao looked up at him.
“Don’t scan this code.” Gu Jiahe smiled and then opened his own phone, opening a page, “They have group buying. It’s more cost-effective to buy vouchers from here.”
Li Zhao raised an eyebrow, “You’re quite frugal.”
“Of course, every little bit counts.”
About an hour later, the two of them were almost full.
“What’s the plan for later? Want to go watch a movie?” Li Zhao put down his chopsticks and asked Gu Jiahe.
“No, I need to go to the supermarket. I’m almost out of groceries at home.”
“Alright, I’ll go with you.” Li Zhao nodded. “Which supermarket are we going to?”
“Runhe. I’ll direct you later.”
“Isn’t that a bit far? There’s a big supermarket nearby.” Li Zhao remembered that Runhe was a bit of a distance from here, a couple of blocks away.
“You’ll see when we get there. The world is vast, and there are many things Lawyer Li hasn’t seen.” Gu Jiahe smirked slightly.
After settling the bill, they left the restaurant.
Li Zhao drove to Runhe Supermarket. During the Spring Festival, the roads in North City were much less congested, with fewer cars.
When Li Zhao parked the car and glanced at the time on the dashboard, it was already past seven in the evening.
The two of them walked side by side to the entrance of the supermarket. Li Zhao pushed a shopping cart from the entrance on the first floor, ready to go inside, but was stopped by Gu Jiahe.
“Wait a bit longer.” Gu Jiahe glanced at the time on his phone.
“Huh?” Li Zhao didn’t understand his meaning. They were at the entrance, yet they stopped without going in.
After a while.
“Okay.” Gu Jiahe pushed his back, urging him to go inside.
Li Zhao walked ahead in confusion.
It wasn’t until he walked into the spacious area inside the supermarket that he understood Gu Jiahe’s intention.
At exactly eight o’clock, the entire supermarket began its big sale. All the products in the fresh produce area and bakery area were marked with bright red discount labels.
“Welcome to our world of commoners,” Gu Jiahe spread his arms.
Li Zhao smiled and followed him into the tall shelves, feeling somewhat helpless.
The same quality loaf of bread, before eight o’clock, cost 25 yuan per pack. After eight o’clock, it was only 12.5 yuan.
Fresh bananas, before eight o’clock, cost 16 yuan a bunch. After eight o’clock, they were only 9.9 yuan.
For Gu Jiahe, eight o’clock was like a door to his easy life.
Li Zhao pushed the shopping cart, watching as he carefully picked out the items he wanted to buy, gradually filling up the empty cart.
Before checking out, Gu Jiahe calculated the total price carefully and showed his points code to the cashier, perfectly getting an additional discount.
Gu Jiahe was like a strategist in this city. He had traversed many levels, encountered many obstacles, searched and searched, and finally found the most economical and convenient path to pass through.
He threaded these paths through his life trajectory, building himself a sturdy and unyielding nest.
When the two walked out of the supermarket with full shopping bags, it was already pitch black outside.
Li Zhao opened the trunk and put away the items they had bought, but didn’t start the car right away.
He stood by the car door and said to Gu Jiahe, “How about taking a walk?”
“Where to?” Gu Jiahe didn’t ask for the reason.
“Isn’t there a wetland park nearby?” Li Zhao had seen a park gate not far away on the way here.
“Okay. It’s not too cold tonight.” Gu Jiahe nodded.
The Beginning of Spring had passed, and there seemed to be signs of improvement in the weather, with less wind at night.
The two walked on the path in the wetland park, with the dim street lights illuminating their way. Occasionally, the sound of insects and fish came from the pond.
“Are you going to work on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year?” Li Zhao asked him first.
“Yeah. I plan to go to the HR department and talk about recruiting people. Otherwise, I’ll be busy all by myself in the future.”
Li Zhao nodded. He noticed that Gu Jiahe had started mentioning “in the future” to him occasionally.
Previously, he seemed to always avoid such topics.
“Yes, it would be best to have a specialist assigned to you. That way, you can free up some of your energy.”
“I’ve been bending over working alone for too long, sometimes forgetting to look up.” Gu Jiahe smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly, “Sometimes I feel like the embarrassment I experienced as a child is almost imprinted in my genes. Always shrinking back in the big picture, but pushing myself to death in some small details.”
“No.” Li Zhao shook his head, “I think you’re already doing very well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. The choices you can make were the best solutions at that time. So there’s no need for regrets.” Li Zhao reached out and gently touched his hair.
“Ah—” Gu Jiahe let out a sigh, “But I still hope to one day buy a big house.”
He looked up at the sky as he spoke, “It would be best if it’s a three-bedroom, two-living room, with heating and air conditioning. And for the kitchen, a large double-door refrigerator. Oh, and I want to install a large projector in the living room, for gaming and watching movies.”
Gu Jiahe became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, even jumping forward a couple of times.
Li Zhao had to take big steps to keep up with him, “You’ll get there. When the time comes, I’ll give you a big red envelope as a housewarming gift.”
Li Zhao didn’t say that he already had a house, and Gu Jiahe didn’t need to desperately save money anymore.
He knew that Gu Jiahe would find a way to achieve what he was determined to do.
“When the time comes, what color do you think would look good on the walls? Beige? Or gray? No, your gray looks a bit too cold, beige would be better…” Gu Jiahe kept chattering as he walked ahead.
Li Zhao followed closely behind, watching his profile, “Then it’ll be beige.”
After Gu Jiahe finished speaking, he suddenly turned his head to look at Li Zhao, “By the way, can you send me the WeChat of your boxing coach?”
“Huh?” Li Zhao was surprised by the sudden change of topic and was momentarily stunned.
“I feel like I need to build some muscle and exercise.” Gu Jiahe said with a pout, “Don’t I need to improve my physical fitness?”