Assistant Architect

Chapter 76: Aquaintance

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“Ah! That should be it!” Zhang Siyi hurriedly looked at it and saw tooth marks all over the wood. Even one of the corners of a piece was bitten off.

Mother Zhang replied with a smile: “I couldn’t think of what the toy was when I saw the image on your phone, but I remembered you liked to chew on these wood pieces as a child.”

“......I liked the wood?” Zhang Siyi mouth twitched.

Mother Zhang answered him: “Yeah. I only recognized these pieces of wood and nothing else. Unless someone was paying attention to you, you always had them in your mouth.” She continued to rummage through the boxes and found more wood pieces. Sure enough, the remaining six pieces all had teeth marks on them.

Placing the pieces already found next to him, Zhang Siyi squatting next to his mother and helped look through the boxes: “Mom, why have you kept these wood block and old bottles for twenty years? Are they a family heirloom?”

“When I see these things, I think of you as a child and I didn’t want to lose them when we moved.” Mother Zhang explained then looked at her son with motherly affection. “With tender skin and big round eyes, you were so cute as a child. You were born to be loved!”

Zhang Siyi: “......”

His Mother pinched her son’s cheeks and continued: “When you cried it was the cutest thing. Your cry wasn’t loud and annoying like other children. Like a faucet, tears would run down steadily from your big eyes and you would purse your lips flat. Compared to other kids, you looked the most distressed, so who wouldn’t want to pick you up and give you a kiss!”

Feeling embarrassed by his mother’s affection, Zhang Siyi replied: “I am your son, of course you would only see and feel good.”

She snorted: “Now you aren’t as cute as you were when you were a child. With big ears and weight gain, you’re the ugliest you’ve ever been!”

...... Who could have said that to her own son!

His Mother squinted at him and said with pride: “But well, the early model is still in there. Shed a few pounds and compared to others, you aren’t far away.”

Zhang Siyi asked without thinking: “Compared to Gu Yu?”

Mother Zhang paused and said: “Listen to Mom’s advice, don’t compare yourself with those who are born to be blessed by the Gods.”

Zhang Siyi: “......” This is the pro-mother! The proper mother!

To complete the puzzle, the Kong Ming Lock needed eight wooden blocks to fit together. Even though they searched through the many storage containers, they could only find seven. “When you were a kid, you used to lose everything. If the piece isn’t here, then it was probably lost. “His mother said.

Zhang Siyi sighed. After so many years, he originally didn’t have any hope of finding it. He felt lucky to have found the amount of Kong Ming Lock pieces that they had.

After the two got up, Mother Zhang sighed and questioned him curiously. She softened her voice: “Why were you looking for this?”

Zhang Siyi lowered his head and said, “Guess who gave it to me?”

Mama Zhang: “Who?”

Zhang Siyi: “Gu Yu!”

Mother Zhang was shocked: “Really?”

“While I was at the Gu residence to celebrate New Year’s, Gu senior told me that we had met when we were children.” Zhang Siyi explained.

Mother Zhang reacted: “Oh, so that engineer was Gu Yu’s father?”

“That’s right!” Zhang Siyi nodded happily holding the wooden sticks and walked to the exit.

Zhang mother locked the warehouse, looking at her son’s back. She held her cheek and thought how sentimental the story was and like a fairy-tale, the two are destined by fate. (*/ω\*)

When Zhang Siyi returned to him room, he carefully cleaned the wooden pieces and took a photo of them to send to Gu Yu.

Gu Yu: “......”

Zhang Siyi: “Hey.”

Gu Yu: “You still have it?”

Zhang Siyi: “I just found it with my mom in the warehouse. She didn’t throw away all of my old things.”

Gu Yu: “It seems like Auntie is very nostalgic.”

Gu Yu: “But why did you look for it?”

Suddenly, Zhang Siyi’s heart became a little chaotic and he didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t know why he went in search for the toy. Since it was the first gift Gu Yu gave him, he instinctively wanted to search for it and after finding it, he wanted to share his feelings with him.

Zhang Siyi: “No reason. I just wanted to look.”

Gu Yu: “Without the last piece, it can’t be assembled.”

Zhang Siyi: “You could tell what was missing?”

Gu Yu: “I played with it for two years. Of course, I remember how to assemble the Kong Ming Lock. If you don’t place the pieces in the correct order, it won’t work.”

Since Gu Yu remembered the exact pieces, Zhang Siyi has a flash of inspiration. He could search online for wood and carve the missing piece!

Before he was able to relay his idea to Gu Yu, Gu Yu asked: “Why are there dents on the wood? It looks like a dog gnawed on them.”

Zhang Siyi: “...” Damn! Even with such a small photo, he can see the tooth marks. Just how big did Gu Yu expand the photo on his screen to inspect it?

Gu Yu: “Aren’t those your teeth marks?”

Zhang Siyi: “......”

Gu Yu: “I’m guessing those are your marks. I remember when you were a child you loved to drool, and your face was always so wet and dirty. Once, you pounced on me and I tried to help clean you off, but instead, you stuck my hand in your mouth and licked me.”

Zhang Siyi: “.........” Don’t say it anymore!

Zhang Siyi’s heart couldn’t take this new information. He quickly pushed the wooden blocks to the side and lay his head on his desk to bury his face. He didn’t want to accept his past actions.

Next to him, his mobile phone was buzzing, but he ignored it.

Gu Yu sent him a message: “What’s wrong, still embarrassed?”

Gu Yu: “Are you there?”

Gu Yu: “[Little Fox squinting]”

Zhang Siyi felt the heat rise and sent Gu Yu an ‘angry kitten’ emoji.

Gu Yu immediately replied with a ‘little fox touch head’ expression.

“.....” What to do. This back and forth of sending expressions like this is...... like he is falling in love!

While holding the phone giggling, Zhang Siyi couldn’t stop himself from sending emojis like he was addicted. His mind was full of Gu Yu.

“Sisi! Dinner!” His mother called from downstairs.

Zhang Siyi thoughts were interrupted by his mother’s shouting. Feeling like he was doing something wrong, he turned off the phone in panic. “Ahhhhhhhh” He isn’t gay! Why does his think about that man every day!? He must be sick!

After dinner, Zhang Siyi wondered what Fu Xinhui was up to as he had not made contact for a couple of days. Thinking about the film he watched with wolves that reminded him of Cheer-Up, he wanted to give his friend a call and learn more about his situation.

Fu Xinhui’s voice was a little haggard: “Cheer-Up is alright, but my family isn’t very good.”

Zhang Siyi: “what?”

Fu Xinhui: “Do you remember when my sister helped me find the dog, and the bodyguard hit someone?”

Zhang Siyi: “I remember, what’s going on?”

Fu Xinhui: “Well, that person is in intensive care now with a head injury. The family deliberately provoked a fight to use as a basis to sue us. The police investigated for two days and the bodyguard that beat that person has been taken away. Because of the brick, if the bodyguard was arrested, then isn’t it to be expected that my sister would also be arrested?”

Zhang Siyi: “Did your sister say anything?”

Fu Xinhui: “Since there are video cameras outside the house, there is evidence that the bodyguard beat the man, but my mother deleted those videos. If they press the matter, then it is also a crime for covering it up.

Zhang Siyi: “Shit! Then why don’t you say those people broke into the house first?”

Fu Xinhui paused and said: “I’ll tell you the truth. My uncle got into a big mess and now there are people watching the house. I don’t know what my dad is going to do......”

The only knowledge of those types of scenes that Zhang Siyi has, is from TV and the movies and he never thought that it would happen in real-life. The family is not good. He couldn’t help but think of his father’s New Year’s Eve prophecy. Worried for his friend he asked: “Why didn’t you tell me the other day?”

Fu Xinhui sighed and said: “You have enough things to worry about that I don’t want to cause you more stress. Rest assured, I am safe. My dad has invited more than a dozen bodyguards so now everyone has someone protecting them. I’m afraid they will target you, so for the time being, I won’t be coming back to the apartment we rented.

Zhang Siyi is very uncomfortable: “Nonsense. I am your friend. Tell me how I can help you!”

Fu Xinhui smiled and said: “I’m not dissing you as a friend. This is a family matter and something ordinary people can’t get involved in. However, I do have something to trouble you with.”

Zhang Siyi: “What trouble is not troublesome. If there is something, just say it!”

Fu Xinhui: “It’s too chaotic here and I don’t have the energy to take care of Cheer-Up. I want you to take care of the dog for a while.

Having a sense of responsibility, Zhang Siyi readily agreed: “Of course it’s no problem! Cheer up is our dog!”

Fu Xinhui felt relieved: “That’s good. When will you get back? I’ll bring Cheer-Up to the apartment ahead of time.”

Since he hasn’t decided yet, Zhang Siyi didn’t have a time planned. He told Fu Xinhui to check WeChat as he will confirm a time later. After Zhang Siyi repeatedly reminded his friend to pay attention to his safety, he reluctantly hung up the phone.

In contrast to Fu Xinhui difficult times, the wedding of Zhang Siyi childhood friend, Qu Xiao, was the next day. He temporarily put down his troubled thoughts of Fu Xinhui and raised his spirit for his friend’s joyous occasion.

In the evening, Shen Hao came to pick Zhang Siyi up in his BMW. As a successful person, he is wearing a stylish suit, whereas Zhang Siyi wore a down jacket and jeans. The contrast made Zhang Siyi feel like an idiot.

The most critical thing that Zhang Siyi brought with him is the one thousand-eight-hundred red envelope in his pocket. It is half of his life!

Since Qu Xiao married a very rich man, the wedding in Ningcheng is being held at the best hotel in the area. When there are thousands of dishes to feed eighty tables full of guests, that is what’s called, deep pockets. The hotel was very clean, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. When he arrived, he saw a row of luxury cars lined up outside. Zhang Siyi has not seen such an occasion and when he thinks about the gap between himself and Shen Hao, he can’t lift his head.

Shen Hao pulled him to the door of the banquet hall and went to congratulate the new couple. Zhang Siyi saw Qu Xiao in her white wedding dress looking delicate and beautiful standing radiantly with her new husband.

“Qu Xiao, congratulations!” Shen Yan pulled Zhang Siyi over and patted his shoulder. “Who is this, do you remember?”

Wide eyed, Qu Miao stared at Zhang Siyi puzzled. In his jacket in jeans, he still looks like a student. “This, this is not ...”

Shen Hao: “It’s Zhang Siyi!”

Qu Xiao suddenly realized: “Ah, Zhang Siyi! I’ve met too many people today that I can’t remember any more names.”

Zhang Siyi: “......” Fuck, sure enough, I should have found an excuse not to come. We haven’t seen each other in ten years. Who recognizes who!

Qu Xiao received the red envelopes of the two people and her attitude towards Zhang Siyi was even more perfunctory. Only the bridesmaids who greeted the guests were eager to them in and sit down. Zhang Siyi became Shen Hao’s little valet.

Compared with Zhang Siyi, Shen Hao has behaved quite spirited. To make contacts, he gave every person a business card that he purchased from a card shop. Printed on the card was a high-sounding title of a Boss of a certain family-company.

Zhang Siyi looked around the room and didn’t see anyone he knew. More and more, he is regretting his decision to come.

Much to his surprise, from behind, he felt someone pat his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw a young handsome man in formal attire smiling at him.