Translator: Blues

Editor: Shem

Bi Lele explained: “The little ball cactus was grown from the big ball cactus. Later on, it was transplanted into another pot alone, so there is no problem for the boss to raise two pots of plants, because they were originally one.”

Zhang Si Yi: “…”

"There is also a story related to this ball cactus," Bi Lele said, then she stretched her neck and looked at the direction of Gu Xiao's office before lowering her voice. "About two months ago, at the end of May, we’ve got a female intern in the group. It is said that she is Boss's junior in T big.”

"Oh?" Zhang Si Yi pricked up his ears, his eyes were glowing as he began to listen to the gossip.

Bi Lele pointed at Zhang Si Yi's seat and said: “That girl was sitting in your position before. At that time, she also asked the boss about the little ball.”

“Wait a minute,” Zhang Si Yi interrupted her and said, “I’ll make it clear, it was not my initiative to ask for this ball, it was Gu Xiao himself who said to the receptionist to give it to me."

Bi Lele: “…”

Zhang Si Yi repeated the conversation at that time, Bi Lele rolled her eyes and said: "The only 2 pots of ball cactus in this office all belong to the boss, you still admitted to him that you like ball cactus. As a matter of fact, it's just like asking for the ball in disguised!"

Zhang Si Yi's mouth twitched. At that time, he really didn’t know that little ball and big ball were one… Oh, yuck, why is this so weird?

Bi Lele continued: “Anyway, it was the girl's initiative to ask for it. She looked pretty good, had a cheerful personality, although not stated, everyone could see that she likes the boss. The boss did not directly refuse, rather he smiled and asked a question in one sentence, ‘The ball is grown from the big ball. If I just casually give it to a girl, what are you supposed to be?'"

Zhang Si Yi didn’t respond: “What?”

"Are you stupid? The ball was grown from the big ball, it is a younger brother of the big ball, Gu Xiao is the father of the big ball. Gu Xiao needs someone to help him to take care of his son. That is, of course Gu Xiao's wife ah!” Bi Lele started shouting the name of Gu Xiao.

Zhang Si Yi finally understood it, his face burned with embarrassment.

“At that time, the girl was so upset that she couldn't say a word, leaving the matter about the ball cactus unsettled. She didn’t stay long, she left the internship after two months. But after that, everyone believes that Gu Xiao will not give his ball cactus to other people so casually. Because if he give it casually, it will make people misunderstand it." Bi Lele said then looked at Zhang Si Yi with ambiguous eyes, “I didn’t expect him to give it away now.”

Zhang Si Yi was completely confused, his heart was beating so fast and there was a series of questions flashed through his mind: It's done, when Gu Xiao gave me the cactus, what did he think of me? Damn, did he still think that I’m gay?

Zhu Hongzhen smirked and said: “You don’t listen to her nonsense, they love to make up stories. I feel like the boss was saying euphemistically that he wasn’t interested in that girl. Besides, isn't the ball an offspring that came out of the big ball? How could it be a brother?”

Bi Lele seriously said: “The ball cactus and the big ball cactus are brothers of the same root, if you don’t cut it, it will stick together! The seeds that come out after the cactus bloomed are the offspring, you have no culture!"

Zhu Hongzhen: “You win! I can’t find words to argue with you…"

Although Bi Lele made a reasonable point, Zhang Si Yi preferred Zhu Hongzhen’s rhetoric. He took a deep breath and comforted himself: No, he just gave me the ball, how come there's so much tricky! (=_=)

However, this story also made Zhang Si Yi realized that for Gu Xiao he might not be special at all. Although they graduated from the same high school and from the same hometown, but what about this? Gu Xiao was not just a student in Ning, but also a student of T big University, there were countless of male and female juniors, not to mention senior and junior colleagues after he got the job….

After thinking about this, Zhang Siyi could not help but feel depressed. However, he didn't want to rely on any relationship to get the favor of Gu Xiao. Thus, he quickly adjusted his mood.

Because there was no new task in the early morning, Zhang Si Yi took the opportunity to take a picture of his work desk and sent it to his WeChat, he even added a note: “New start!”

He originally wanted to post a photo then put away the phone, but some people quickly liked the post. Zhang Si Yi's heart itched to see who liked it and found that it was another college classmate called Xue Wenhan, who was now still staying in the UK for a master’s degree. Xue Wenhan didn’t study a master’s degree in architecture, but transferred to a master’s degree in architecture-related literature.

Calculating the time difference, it was midnight over there. It seemed that he was still staying up late and Zhang Si Yi didn’t know whether the person stayed up late to study or to play.

Unexpectedly, there were a few new notifications above. Many people liked or sending a congratulatory message, and some asked him where he was. Zhang Si Yi couldn't even reply one by one.

Being the interest and liked experience all at once satisfied Zhang Si Yi’s longing for recognition, he intended to reply a few words quickly, but a familiar voice sounded behind him: “You seem very relaxed.”

Zhang Si Yi's body hair stood upright, he was scared to the point that he almost dropped the phone.

Gu Xiao was carrying a teacup and once again, appeared silently behind him. With a strange and fierce look in his eyes, he stared at Zhang Si Yi with a smile yet not a smile. He didn’t wait for Zhang Si Yi to say something and said right away: “Come here.”

Zhang Si Yi hurriedly put the phone into his pants pocket and nervously followed up.

Two chairs were placed in front of the desk at Gu Xiao's office. After sitting down, a girl with a long straight hair came and softly asked: "Are you looking for me, Engineer Gu?"

Gu Xiao hummed and pointed at the vacant seat beside Zhang Si Yi for her to sit down.

Two people looked at each other, Zhang Si Yi stepped forward to greet the girl first: "I am Zhang Si Yi, the new one recruit yesterday."

The girl smiled shyly, shook hands with him and said softly: “I've heard. Hello, I am Du Rui Xuan."

After Gu Xiao saw them finished familiarizing with each other, he pushed the two stacks of data he was holding before in front of them and said: "This is the design outline of a young single apartment in S city, It needs three sets of proposal. Xiao Du, you do two sets, while Zhang Si Yi do a set. The initial design proposal will be discussed in the meeting room at 1:30 P.M. Today, before we get off work in the evening, it is necessary to complete the plane to make it into the drawing."

Zhang Si Yi was still digesting Gu Xiao's words when he heard Du Rui Xuan saying "I understood", then they stood up.

“Hey, wait.” Out of the door, Zhang Si Yi hurriedly shouted to her to ask, “We will have a proposal at 1:30 P.M. Today, can we do it in only one morning?" Because an hour at noon was lunch time, so to be exact, they only have three hours.

Du Rui Xuan calmly said: “Yes.”

Zhang Si Yi was shocked. When he was in school, they had to do a week for each proposal. Now, what can he do in three hours? It’s not easy to find some information.

Meanwhile, Du Rui Xuan who had more proposals than him, was a lot calmer than he was.

Zhang Si Yi braced himself and went back to his seat. He frantically opened the data and read it up, this pressure fucking made people feel like they were on the line at every minute! What social media? What was the point of likes? Zhang Si Yi now had no mood to think about anything else!

Maybe the power of people under pressure was really infinite. Three hours in one morning really allowed Zhang Si Yi to produce a set of proposal to come.

Fortunately, it was a “single bedroom apartment", Zhang Si Yi was more familiar with it than the core tube of a large office building. After all, he used to live in a student apartment abroad, he had seen many beautiful modern youth hostel while traveling abroad. So he drew a gourd from the model by memory, and changed it here and there, collected all the bits to make a whole plane with a draft model, finally he could give an account in the afternoon discussion.

Although, it was a bit rough, neither had he known what the result was. But Zhang Si Yi could not help but think, if he was also designing with this efficiency when he was studying, wasn’t it directly to heaven?

At lunchtime, Zhang Si Yi had a lunch at the company and could go to the dining area with his colleagues.

The position of Du Rui Xuan's seat was separated from Zhang Si Yi by two rows and was closer to Lu Qiao. Zhang Si Yi wanted to call her when she passed by, intending to discuss the plan with her ahead of meal to see if he could do it. However, Du Rui xuan said: "You go ahead and eat first, I haven't finished drawing yet. I'll eat later…"

Zhang Si Yi thought about it, she was going to draw two sets, much more work than he did.

Seeing that Du Rui Xuan immersed herself in drawing, Zhang Si Yi curiously moved closer and took a glance. Soon he looked silly, he saw her desk stocked with a few finished drawing of lead manuscript diagram with colorful fountain pen, exquisite and beautiful.

"Oh, my God! Did you do a pure hand-drawn design?" Zhang Si Yi was shocked.

Du Rui Xuan smiled and shook her head: “No, ah, the drawings have been drawn with a computer. I am now drawing a few quick effects, I’d like to add more explanations.”

(T/N: Visual representation of how things will turn out.)

Zhang Si Yi was stuttering as he said: “You… you draw very well.”

Although foreign architecture departments also have related sketch drawing courses, they didn't require students to have a good level of hand-drawing. Moreover, with the popularity of computer design softwares, since Zhang Si Yi learned the software, he rarely did a hand-drawing. Now, if he was asked to draw a few flat, it would be pretty good. But Du Rui Xuan’s standard of professional effect picture absolutely he wasn't capable of.

Du Rui Xuan modestly said: “It's just mediocre, turn around and you can look at the picture drawn by Yuan Zhicheng who is sitting diagonally opposite you. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and his hand-drawing ability is applauded."

Zhang Si Yi didn’t want to say anything anymore. He just need someone to give him a basin of sand, because he wanted to bury his head!

The original light mood after finishing the proposal and had a lunch was gone, Zhang Si Yi quickly finished the lunch and returned to the desk. There was still half an hour of lunch break, at first he wanted to rest a bit and even wanted to go online, but Zhang Si Yi didn’t want to do anything. Thus, he just silently turned over the proposal he just made, wondering where and what to add.

At 1:30, like what was scheduled, Gu Xiao summoned him and Du Rui Xuan to attend the meeting.

The two of them brought their own design results to the meeting room. It felt a bit like a weekly design class at school where each student took his own design to see the teacher. But because it wasn't as good as Du Rui Xuan, so much inferior than hers, Zhang Si Yi was very nervous and feared that he would get criticized.

Gu Xiao quickly inspected all of it, he first approved Du Rui Xuan's output and let Zhang Si Yi also looked at those two proposal, asking him what he thought.

“It’s very, very good.” Those beautiful hand-drawings had already shaken Zhang Si Yi.

But Gu Xiao looked at it again carefully and then mercilessly pointed out several streamline problems in Du Rui Xuan’s proposal. One of the proposal was even basically worthless, Du Rui Xuan was about to cry.

Zhang Si Yi listened timidly on the edge, only to find out that what he suffered last night was nothing.

Gu Xiao was really a terrible person, truly terrible… Du Rui Xuan worked so hard, why couldn't he love fragrance and jade!

(T/N: be kind/caring/considerate to a woman.)

It was now Zhang Si Yi’s turn, he also made preparation for the stabs, there might be a precedent from Du Rui Xuan, he was not afraid. Instead, he thought that if Gu Xiao could be more ruthless to him, this might make Du Rui Xuan feel better.

After Gu Xiao looked at his whole design, he only nodded and said two words: "Very good.”

…Very good, was that it?

Yes, there were no other evaluations.

Gu Xiao made Du Rui Xuan changed one of the proposals and then combined with Zhang Si Yi to do it. The two of them together would complete the next plane refinement, in the end he said a sentence: “Let Zhang Si Yi draw the toilets.”

Zhang Si Yi: “…”

After that, Gu Xiao went out. Zhang Si Yi looked out, after confirming that the man had gone far, he looked at Du Rui Xuan's firm face thG a moment ago became sad, she was staring at her own design plan.

Zhang Si Yi wanted to softly comfort her with a few words, but he didn't know what to say. Du Rui Xuan had been working longer than he had been here, should be more experienced than he was.

At this moment, Du Rui Xuan wiped her eyes, looked up and said: “Zhang Si Yi, can you teach me what are your thoughts when you do the project?”

The girl still had slightly reddish eyes, flashing a stubborn and firm tear.

The author has something to say: [Note]

RIBA requires that students who have completed Part1 (Bachelor of Architecture) in the UK must have more than one year of work experience before they can continue to study Part 2 (Master of Architecture). Therefore, they cannot directly study "Master of Architecture" after graduation, that is why Su Yuan return to work.

Draft model: It is generally a draft building model that is usually made quickly using software such as Google Sketchup.

Asking for flowers ~~

• You have no culture – Shallow, lack of intellectual depth or good taste. Someone said it is arguably related to the Cultural Revolution and the subsequent economic reforms, which some believe have ruined the rich Chinese culture and created a new “culture-less” generation. But those who are accused of 没文化 in this context are usually educated, even well-educated, and well-off. Sometimes it is used in self-mockery.
• WeChat – WeChat (Chinese: 微信; pinyin: Wēixìn; literally: “micro-message”) is a Chinese multi-purpose messaging and social media app. Editor-sama used it before and there is this so called "Moments" where you can post a pic of what you are doing and stuffs. And aye, it's like Messenger, Whatsapp and other messaging app, but you can post sth in this one.
• Dew a gourd from the model – to copy something mechanically without attempt at originality

so that was chapter 10, sorry for the long wait. I just adopted a cat and spent all my weekends spoiled him. He is such a cute cat and smart cat. How could they want to abandon him just because they bored?

Don’t forget to thank Shem for editing. She always work a magic in my translation. So all of you can understand it better. She always work fast and even add the note. THANK YOU SHEM!!

THIS IS THE START OF MY RANT, SO YOU CAN SKIP IT.

I would like to tell you my story, it’s a bit personal.

My parents were overprotective to me, especially my mother. That's because I was a sickly child back then. I grew up spoiled by their love. So even though I was an adult, I was immature, selfish and too dependent on them. Then, four years ago, my mother passed away. It's like I had been living inside a bubble all this time, then it snapped so I fell and lost. A few months later, I graduated from college. But I didn't feel satisfied, I just felt numb. So I went home and locked myself in my room. My father became workaholic. My brothers just started his college and never came home. So I was alone moping. I didn't work, I didn't even try looking for job. I had insomnia and lost my appetite. It seemed guilt and regrets eaten me alive. I lost my passion too, even reading wasn't enjoyable anymore.

Two years later, I already lost so much weight. I felt like a walking corpse. I questioned myself, 'Why can't I move on? Why can't I be happy? What's wrong with me?' then I thought that I would get my life back. I would find my happiness. Two years was enough time for pitying myself. So I tried gardening, it used to be enjoyable. I bought a few pots of plant, but in the next weeks they died one by one. It made me down for a few days. Then I shouted to myself 'ENOUGH, I should just go out looking for a job! I already waste my life for two years!' fortunately I got a job. It's hard and tiring at first. But I forced myself to wake up every morning. I also experimented with my reading choices. 'let's try reading this danmei novel, it seemed interesting.'

So this morning, when I woke up and found out that Shem already finished editing, I was excited. 'Yes, I can upload it, I wonder if someone out there waiting for this update, I can't wait to translate the next chapter'. The giddy and warm feeling felt alien yet familiar. Then the realization hit me, that I was happy. I have been for the past few months. Yes I am happy!! I sleep soundly every night. I live alone and just fine (with my cats). I also enjoy my reading. Hmm, it turns out danmei novel is very interesting. LOL

I never thought that translating a novel and being able to share it with everyone is very enjoyable. Thank you Shem for suggesting me to translate this novel, you bring me joy *hug*

so that’s all, sorry for the long rant. some of you might find this annoying. Don’t forget to like and tell what you think in the comment! lastly ENJOY!