What Are Your Tastes? chapter 2

Mr. Zhou Rejects My Design?

Lu Yunchu had been in Sen City for more than half a year now. This was originally the city where he attended university.

Back then, Lu Yunchu, who had excellent academic performance, followed his father Lu Changming’s instructions and enrolled in a management-related major, only to realize after admission that his choice was a mistake. With his mother’s help, he quietly dropped out and went to Italy to study sculpture.

Lu Changming was furious when he found out. The relationship between father and son had always been strained, and it hit an all-time low then. Lu Changming had always hoped to groom his son to take over the family business, only to find out that the boy had no interest in it.

Lu Changming also had an illegitimate child with another woman, who took the mother’s surname and was named Du Yunyuan. After hitting a wall with Lu Yunchu, he considered reaching out to the child he had ignored for thirty years, only to be shocked to discover that the boy was gay. This drove him into a hysterical rage, spewing hateful words.

He cursed Du Yunyian so viciously that Lu Yunchu, filled with contempt, added fuel to the fire, “Do you find being gay disgusting?”

“I haven’t even settled scores with you yet,” Lu Changming raged, “You better mind your own business.”

“It’s not entirely unrelated to me,” Lu Yunchu shrugged, with a reckless smile on his lips, “Because I am just like Du ge, so I completely understand him.”

“What did you say?” Lu Changming froze in place.

“I mean—I am also gay.” He had even had a relationship abroad, although it ended badly, and he didn’t plan to tell his parents about it.

This revelation not only petrified Lu Changming but also shocked his mother, who accidentally overheard their conversation. The teacup in her hand fell and shattered on the ground with a “smash.”

Lu Yunchu had long been weary of keeping this secret. As he grew older, he had to deal with various forms of pressure from his family to get married. Given Lu Changming’s interest-above-all personality, it wouldn’t be surprising if he someday forced him to marry some rich man’s daughter. To nip this possibility in the bud, coming out was inevitable.

But unlike the time when he left for university, his mother Wu Lan now sided with Lu Changming. Both parents looked at him as if he were a monster, wishing they had never given birth to such a child.

“This is the good son you spoiled!”

Lu Changming blamed Wu Lan, while Wu Lan cried and pounded Lu Yunchu with her fists, “How can you be like this? Who taught you this?”

Lu Yunchu did not resist, letting her hit and scold him. It wasn’t out of fear, but indifference. He knew there was no place for him in this home anymore.

He didn’t want to stay in the city where his parents lived, so he moved to a city where he had some memories and a decent impression, to start over.

His studio was located in a cultural and creative community in the southeastern part of the city. The shops here were mostly converted from old factories or warehouses. To save money, Lu Yunchu didn’t rent a separate apartment and lived directly in his studio. The space was enough, but it was inconvenient for daily life, lacking even a proper kitchen.

Early Sunday morning, he received a call from a friend who said they were coming to pick up the decorations they had asked him to make.

After a simple wash, he started making coffee. Lu Yunchu could occasionally skip breakfast, but never coffee. When busy, he drank instant coffee, but that day, without any immediate tasks, he leisurely opened the cupboard and took out his tools.

Laying a patterned filter in the dripper, he rinsed it several times with hot water until the filter paper was perfectly flat, then added coffee grounds. He didn’t like using an automatic coffee machine, finding it less convenient than instant coffee and less interesting than a pour-over.

He wasn’t particularly meticulous about life details, only spending extra effort on things he found interesting.

“Yunchu!”

“Here!” Lu Yunchu heard Ning Ruowei’s voice. The front door was locked, so he ran to the terrace and waved, signaling her to take the outside stairs to the office.

Lifting the coffee pot, Lu Yunchu poured about half a cup for himself. He removed the filter bowl and asked, “Coffee?”

“Sure, thanks.”

The girl was dressed in sportswear, with long twin tails gently falling over her chest. She was Lu Yunchu’s college mate and one of his few local friends.

Back then, Lu Yunchu hadn’t come out at school, but this difference often made him feel out of place. While attending art classes, he met Ning Ruowei, who had faced rejection from girls after coming out. They clicked instantly and maintained a friendship for many years, even staying in touch when Lu Yunchu went abroad. Last year, when she heard he was coming to Sen City, she was overjoyed.

“How did you get here?” Lu Yunchu put down the coffee. Ning Ruowei looked like she had just finished exercising, her face still flushed and sweaty.

“I ran here.” Unlike the homebody Lu Yunchu, Ning Ruowei exercised almost daily, either at the gym or jogging outside. She stood up from the sofa, wandered around the room, and immediately recognized the items Lu Yunchu had made for her. “Yunchu, these are mine, right?”

“Yeah, that whole row.”

She tinkered with each item. “Why is there an extra one?” The cat-face ornament at the end wasn’t something she had ordered.

“A bonus,” he explained. “I thought it would look great in your shop.”

After graduating from the art department, Ning Ruowei opened her own clothing brand store. These small items were decorations for her shop.

“Wow… thanks,” she said, delighted and unwilling to put them down. “You made these yourself?”

“Yep.” Lu Yunchu had workers, but these particular pieces were handmade by him.

“I knew it, no one else could have done it…” Ning Ruowei sat back on the sofa, gazing thoughtfully at him. “Yunchu, with your talent, do you regret leaving S City?”

“What’s there to regret?” he joked. “Aren’t you happy I came over?”

“That’s not the point… You built quite a reputation and network there, right?” Ning Ruowei sipped her coffee, chatting casually. “You don’t really need to worry about your dad; after all, he’s in a different field—”

“Why would I worry about him?” Lu Yunchu interrupted with a smile. Being superficially respectful was the most “filial” he could be; in reality, he didn’t care about Lu Changming. “At most, I just don’t want to see him… Plus, I feel whatever I can get elsewhere, I can get here too.”

“You’re something else,” she sighed in relief. “Let’s not talk about this. By the way, did you take on the Hongchuan project?”

“Yeah.” He had mentioned it to her when Hongchuan first showed interest. Yesterday, he had already sent the initial draft to Manager Sun.

“Nice,” she gave a thumbs-up. “Hongchuan is the big boss around here.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard.” Before he left Sen City to study abroad, Hongchuan was just a small, unknown workshop. He wasn’t sure how they had developed over the years, nor did he care, only knowing they currently specialized in automotive manufacturing.

Anyway, now this local “leader” had placed an order with him, and generously so. Even if not for the money, doing business with such a client was great for reputation and promotion.

Lu Yunchu wanted to keep Ning Ruowei a bit longer to have lunch together, but she had to discuss something with a manufacturer and left in a hurry. He returned to his desk, opened his computer, and aimed to refine the design draft for Hongchuan. He felt the initial draft was flawless and could start detailing it further.

Just then, his phone rang.

“Hello, Manager Sun,” Lu Yunchu asked, “did you receive my email?”

The man on the other end said something that quickly wiped the smile off Lu Yunchu’s face. “You’re saying—Mr. Zhou doesn’t approve of my design?”