The Stars In Your Eyes - Chapter 166

Bai Yutang frowned, he got bad premonition. His hands numb and cold right away. He tried to suppress the discomfort he felt inside and politely answered. “Yes auntie Lin.”

“Good. Then let’s meet at 6 o’clock at S hotel lounge. Is that okay?”

S hotel was not that far from his office, but the traffic jam was no joke. Bai Yutang needs to leave office at 5 if he wants to make it. He softly answered, “Yes auntie Lin. 6 o’clock at S hotel lounge. I’ll be there.”

“Okay.. Thank you, TangTang.” Lin Caihong’s voice was cold and stern until the end.

Bai Yutang stared at his mobile phone, thinking about what just happened. Lin Caihong is usually always warm to him. But the conversation just now was only polite but so cold. Not a trace of her warmth could be heard. Bai Yutang suddenly didn’t have any mood left to continue working. He decided to leave early.

“Senior, I’ll be going first.” He stood up and excused himself after turning off the computer.

Yan Qiuyue raises her eyebrow when she turns her head looking at him. “So early? Your roommate picked you up again? Or you have a date?”

Bai Yutang tried to lift his lips, put a smile upon his gloomy mood. “I feel a little bit unwell. Just want to sleep early.”

Zhu Meng frowned, “Don’t get sick. Take your medicine if needed. Only fools catch cold in summer.”

Bai Yutang only smiles and reaches for his backpack. He repeatedly says goodbye to his other senior in the other team while he walks out from the office. Usually he only left the office when few people left here. Today is a rare day for him left while the office is still full of people doing overtime.

He calls his lover when he is waiting for the elevator. “Hello gege, I’ve finished my work.”

Jian Kang Lu was surprised but happy at the same time. It was so rare for his workaholic kitten to finish his work in this hour. Usually Jian Kang Lu needs to wait until 7.30 or 8 o’clock which equals two cups of coffee and two cups of tea until his kitten bestows him with his arrival. He did not even finish reviewing his resident’s paper today.

“So fast?”

“Umm, I’m hungry and want to sleep earlier. Get stuck, better to work again tomorrow.” Bai Yutang can’t use sickness as an excuse to his lover or else he will be sent for a full body medical check up to his lover’s hospital. To his lover, better using stuck as the excuse.

Architects are just every artist out there. They can’t work well without a fresh mind and their inspiration is dimmed with a tired body and brain. For his current task, actually Bai Yutang didn’t need inspiration. The project their team handled was the finishing project which didn’t need much creativity, only following the original design and outline.

However, it was a completely different matter with the bidding project. A lot of Zhong Fan’s work which he handled was purely his artistic creativity and calculation. So far, he hasn’t gotten any feedback nor revision for his work there. Maybe Zhong Fan modified his design again, or maybe team 2 fixed it to fit their own arrangement, Bai Yutang had no idea.

Jian Kang Lu detected a different tone used by his kitten. It seems his kitten didn’t have a good day. Jian Kang Lu was familiar with it. Every time his kitten stuck, he would be like this. It seems today he has to watch his mouth and needs to say goodbye for bedtime exercise tonight. When his kitten is stuck or in a bad mood, he rarely responds to Jian Kang Lu’s invitation.

They eat Korean barbecue near their apartment. The restaurant was owned by a pair of Korean couples which serve the meat from a small organic farm which they also owned in the small hills in S prefecture. The vegetables are also from their farm, all organic. It was really fresh and tasty.

Bai Yutang’s favorite is their chadol baegi. It’s thinly shaved beef brisket. The meat is not marinated whatsoever, so the better quality of the meat, the tastier it will become. Cook it briefly upon the charcoal grills, dipped it in a sesame oil sauce mixed with himalayan salt and pepper, then use the organic fresh crispy green lettuce to wrap it before savouring the tender-melted in your mouth-meat.

Bai Yutang’s mood improved several degrees higher after finishing the whole two plates of chadol baegi. The mood even better after his lover ordered makgeolli, a milky off white light sparkling korean wine. The taste is slightly sweet, tangy, bitter, astringent, yet refreshing.

Bai Yutang shoved his bad feeling from his future mother in law’s call to the back of his head. He smiled to listen to his lover’s story and joke from the hospital. It was like a mutual understanding between them.

If both of their moods are good, the dinner is usually dominated by Bai Yutang’s daily rambling. If Jian Kang Lu’s mood is bad, both of them fell silent with only a little bit of conversation by Bai Yutang, accompanied with a lot of touch, hug, and kisses. If Bai Yutang’s mood was bad, it was Jian Kang Lu’s turn to talk.

Today’s story was Jian Kang Lu’s patient complaining about one of his resident’s body odours. This is summer, it was understandable if a person stinky from their sweat. Especially if the person hung their life on coffee, unhealthy fast food, lack of sleep, and maybe stressed also.

Actually this resident was not that stinky, but he examined the patient in close range. The patient complained that her oxygen saturation decreased not because her lungs filled with fluids from her kidney failure, but due to she had to hold her breath.

This led to Jian Kang Lu apologising to the patient. He then teased her with questions which person you choose to be son in law, a handsome doctor but sinky, or an ugly unemployee but fragrance. Jian Kang Lu then bought cheap but decent perfume online to distribute to all of his residents today. Bai Yutang automatically sniffed his own armpit in the restaurant under the makgeolli light alcohol effect.

Jian Kang Lu can’t hold his laugh to look at his wide eyed kitten look at him hazily and crumple his brows while asking him in a pleading tone, “Am i stinky, gege? I also haven’t taken a bath. I heard people can’t recognise themselves if they were stinky. You have to tell me if I’m stinky. Don’t let people talk behind my back if I am stinky. Maybe we had to reduce our coffee and garlic consumption?”

Jian Kang Lu could only tease his kitten, “I don’t know. I haven’t sniffed you today. Let me sniff you properly and i’ll tell you later whether you’re stinky or not today.”

This is what you call dropping the stone on your own feet. Jian Kang Lu’s brain was snapped when his kitten leaned on him after his teasing words. His kitten revealed his sexy white collarbone slightly while softly whispered, “Then sniff me now.. Tell me.. Am i stinky?”

With this provocation, of course Jian Kang Lu paid the bill at the speed of light and abducted his kitten immediately back home. After one hour sniffing, tossing and turning his kitten around until his kitten pleads no more cum, Jian Kang Lu solemnly declares that his kitten is not stinky. They took a bath happily and went to bed early that night.

Even though Bai Yutang ended that Wednesday in a happy and bright mood, he spent his Thursday and Friday in distress. He needs to double his speed since he leaves work earlier on Wednesday, and will leave earlier too on Friday. He didn’t even go out for lunch, only order some food delivery to eat at his desk while concentrating on his own task.

Friday noon he was in dilemma to reject or to accept Zhong Fan’s request again. Zhong Fan was told to design the toilet for the team 2 bidding project, and he directly forward the email with instruction to Bai Yutang.

After many times dumping his task to Bai Yutang, Zhong Fan didn’t even beg him again, as if he would agree immediately. Finally he only asked, “When is the deadline? I’m sorry senior, I need to go home early today.”

Zhong Fan turned his head to receive this half rejection for the first time. “Can you send it to me on Saturday afternoon?”

Bai Yutang sighed. Saturday he already promised his lover to pick a birthday gift for his future mother in law. “Sunday afternoon? I’m really sorry senior, I haven’t finished the column calculation for team 1 also.”

Zhong Fan agreed immediately. Thus Bai Yutang feels even worse since he will spend another weekend working again.

Time really went fast if you didn’t want to face the reality. Soon it was already 5 o’clock. Luckily Bai Yutang had finished all of his tasks for this week, only Zhong Fan’s toilet design he hasn’t touched at all. He hurriedly wrapped up his things and ran to catch a taxi. Taxi at this hour on Friday afternoon, needs a combination of fierceness and a bunch of luck to grab one.

He sent a message to Lin Caihong notifying him that he was already on the way but still stuck in a traffic jam, afraid that his future mother in law was disappointed in him when he was late. Bai Yutang didn’t tell his lover, he only told him that he will work over time again and will come back home late.

[When you arrive, just tell them that you have an appointment with me.]

Bai Yutang replied to that message shortly. It was 15 minutes past six when he arrived at the lounge. S hotel is a luxurious 5 star hotel in this city. Many socialites with their flashy dress and exquisite make up walk around, also executives who attend some business meeting extending their conversation here to a simple dinner with alcohol companions.

Bai Yutang looked at his surroundings and felt a little bit out of place when he looked at those men with expensive suits walking past him. Two women with 9 cm high heels and tight dresses sit near the window across from him, enjoying their afternoon tea cakes. Bai Yutang already stated to this young beautiful lady wearing black spaghetti dress and long silver earrings who attended this lounge that he was here for appointment with Mrs. Lin Caihong.

The lady checked her tablet and took him to the private room. She then opened the door, politely gesturing to Bai Yutang to come in. The private room had a partition from thin paper to block the view from the door to the people who sat inside. Bai Yutang stepped in and softly announced himself.

“Afternoon, Auntie Lin. This is Yutang. I’m sorry I was late, the traffic today is so bad.”

“Come in.” The voice inside belongs to Lin Caihong.

Bai Yutang pushed himself, clenched his fist to avoid his nervousness rising to the surface. When he looked behind the partition, there was a round table with 4 soft sofa chairs. In the corner there are some fresh flowers in the small vase, and in the middle of the wall there are exquisite blue and white porcelain decorate this private room.

In the room, there are three women sitting. They were Lin Caihong, Zhou Qunfei and Wu Yajun. Lin Caihong pointed for Bai Yutang to sit on the empty sofa chair. Bai Yutang secretly thought while he sat, that maybe this is only another meeting for Lin Caihong’s birthday party. But why are all of their faces cold and stern? As if they didn’t know him before, as if they disdain him.

Bai Yutang is really nervous now, he didn’t even have any voice left in his throat. He just sits there silently, waiting for these women to reveal their intentions. The silent hang in the air, it was suffocating. Three of them fixed their gaze on him.

Finally, Lin Caihong leaned to the table. Her perfectly manicured nails clasped and put upon the table. Her gaze was cold and sharp, stabbing what’s left from Bai Yutang’s guts.

“I will talk straight to the point. Yutang, are you in relationship with my son?”