Chapter 4: Executive Leader Long, can you move your head?

JANUARY 2, 2022 ~ FISH

“Ah? Really?” Xu Liang didn’t even lift his head, speaking while dipping the barbequed meat in sauce: “But it’s not unusual. She was the first one to receive this batch of relics when it first entered the museum. She’s been pretty busy these past few days, I heard she couldn’t even sleep properly at home. Yesterday she dealt with the current work in her hands. Today she took leave. A couple of days ago I saw that her mental state wasn’t quite good. She seemed especially tired as if her whole person had been folded over.” 

Qi Chen’s face was full of surprise: “It’s that stressful when your museum is busy?” 

“Not really….” Xu Liang shook his head: “Anyway I don’t feel so stressed, rarely even when busy. As for stress, it mainly stems from being responsible for the cultural relics in the museum. You can’t make any mistakes when handling them. Though it’s not anyone’s first time doing this kind of thing, at least not to the degree of that level of stress. But different personalities you know. Qin-jie belongs to the type that tends to worry excessively. Normally, any small thing can cause her to overthink. A bit of stress can’t be considered strange. Maybe something happened at home that’s worrying her.” 

Qi Chen nodded. After all, it had little to do with him so he didn’t discuss it further. 

The two ate this one meal from six to almost nine. Only then did Qi Chen’s expression show ‘I’m finally full’. He strolled out and walked towards the public transport station with Xu Liang.

Xu Liang’s rented place was not too far from here but it just happened to be in the opposite direction to Qi Chen’s. He said goodbye to Qi Chen then crossed the overhead bridge, catching the bus on the opposite side. 

It was only a little more than one stop to Guang He Company from here. It actually wasn’t too far to walk and could conveniently help with digesting food. But don’t look at Qi Chen’s clear and refined appearance. He was actually a ‘if I can lie down I won’t sit, if I can sit I won’t walk’ kind of person.

He shamelessly stood on the platform under a billboard and waited for a moment. Only when he saw the 85 Bus he was waiting for slowly pull up did he squeeze his public transport card, follow behind a group of people in a carefree manner and board the bus. He sat down in the empty seat by the window in the last row.

Who knew as soon as the driver started up the bus he immediately slammed on the brakes. Because there were no seats in front to block them, the person seated two seats away from Qi Chen was flung forward several steps then sat down heavily on a step and complained loudly: “What is this driving?! Luckily I’m robust otherwise I’d be flung straight to the floor!” 

Who knew the driver would also throw back a sentence as if suppressing his anger: “You think I want to?! Some blind bastard suddenly rushed towards the bus wheels. If I don’t brake and squash them into a giant pancake will you pay?!” 

The bus quickly started up calmly again. The young person seated on the steps gave a humph, patted off the dust on his butt then returned to his previous seat. With a lousy expression, he plugged in earphones and continued to play with his phone.

Qi Chen glanced at him, then turned his head towards the window. He happened to glimpse a long haired woman wearing a fine red coat, carrying a bag and staggering beside the bus. Only he didn’t have enough time to see her face clearly before the bus picked up speed, turning a corner and leaving that woman far behind. 

“How come I feel like she kind of looks like the Qin-jie Xu Liang talked about….” Qi Chen muttered then felt he was probably influenced by what happened in the afternoon to have these kinds of thoughts. After all, he hadn’t even seen that person’s appearance. 

The temperature within the bus was somewhat higher than outside. The window very quickly became blurred with a thin layer of condensation. The scenery outside became even more blurry.

This road was located towards the west of Jia Yang District. It wasn’t near the city center so it couldn’t be considered busy. The billboards on both sides and their white lights weren’t very dense, flashing past the bus window one after another. Blurred by condensation, they became patches of dim lights. 

This kind of night scene always gave him the sense that he’d seen this scene before. 

He’d probably had similar dreams. In his dreams, he also sat in something, swaying as it moved forwards. Stretching out his hand to lift the cloth curtain, he could see a multitude of thin paper lanterns emitting a white glow, lighting up the road ahead. 

　When he returned to the company, Building A was already completely dark yet Building B was still lit up in several places. It was unknown who was still working overtime. The dormitory Qi Chen lived in was behind the office buildings past a small green flower garden.

 But when he arrived at the building looking for his keys while preparing to go upstairs, he saw a tall shadow walk towards his side. The dim yellow street lights illuminated half his face, making the contours of his eyes appear especially deep.

That person frowned and glanced down at Qi Chen, humphed once and said disdainfully: “How come you always gather in front of me?!” 

Qi Chen silently coughed blood “…..” Do you have any shame? I really want to ask you Long-daye! Appearing wherever I go, one really can’t avoid their enemy….

“Good evening.” He greeted him politely then stepped to the side, wanting to let this surnamed Long go up first. 

But who knew that ancestor would stop after taking a few steps forward. 

Qi Chen thought he still wanted to say something and raised his head in confusion but happened to meet the face of the person who’d leaned forward. 

“What are you doing?!” He was startled and took a step back subconsciously. As a result that despicable stair railing bumped into the back of his waist, blocking his retreat. 

Although this Executive Leader Long had a bad temper and spoke unpleasantly he truly had quite an alluring appearance. The contours of his side profile were strong yet sharp. When he frowned and pursed his lips, it felt like the cold glare of a blade. 

And right now that blade was pressed against Qi Chen’s neck. With just the slightest turn of his head he might come into contact with that person’s face. Yet as he lowered his head, that person’s woollen overcoat just happened to brush against Qi Chen’s chin. 

Even if he was wearing an overcoat and wrapped up with a scarf, Qi Chen still felt like the tip of that person’s nose was about to touch his neck. The hairs on his body immediately raised in shock, his whole person stiffened like a plank of coffin wood. 

After enduring it for a while, the coffin plank finally said stiffly: “Executive Leader Long can you move your he—” 

‘Head’ hadn’t even been spoken when he heard that person sniff twice by his ear, like he was smelling something. Then that ancestor finally lifted his head and straightened his body. With a arrogant and overbearing attitude, he looked at Qi Chen with lowered eyes and said two words —

“Ate BBQ?” 

Qi Chen: “……” 

What…… the…… hell……

This was like a fully armed robber pressing a gun to your temple, pushing aside the insurance and saying a bunch of intimidating things. Then pulling the trigger and getting nothing but a face full of water! 

WTF?

In that instant, Qi Chen felt this crazy fellow surnamed Long had two words written on his face. On the left side was “欠” and on the right side was “扁”. 

(t/n: 　欠扁 together means infuriating) 

He moved his lips and hadn’t even spoken when he saw that ancestor had already turned around and begun climbing the stairs. He walked while coldly throwing down a few words: “Don’t let your legs get mouldy scurrying outside in the middle of the night. If you provoke something that shouldn’t be provoked then you should beg them not to digest you piece by piece like BBQ while crying and screaming.” 

Qi Chen: “…..” Nine o’clock is considered the middle of the night…. Are you looking at the time wrong or am I looking at the time wrong?

As for piece by piece or whatever…. He who had just had his fill of BBQ accidentally imagined something and suddenly felt sick. Thus he shook his head furiously, throwing out these cruel scenes and walked up the steps with a green face. 

The Guang He Company building is said to be a dormitory but was more like a single apartment building. Each floor had two rooms and there were only five floors in all. Counting with your fingers there were no more than ten rooms in total. No matter how you looked at it, it couldn’t have been prepared for the employees of an entire company. 

Back then when Qi Chen had come for an interview, he’d also worried if this dormitory had any available rooms. In the end, Director Dong had reassured him with a smile: “Relax, it’s very empty. Not every employee needs a room.”

Qi Chen had felt that this sounded reasonable. Jiang City locals wouldn’t need dormitories. It would be impossible for married people to put up with it here. Only single employees without accommodation in Jiang City would need to live in a dormitory. At first he thought even if that were the case, this one dormitory should be about full. Who knew that when he really moved in, only five or six rooms would be lit up at night. 

He’d chosen a room on the highest floor. The room opposite didn’t seem to be occupied and was dark yesterday. 

Qi Chen walked up the stairs while looking at the figure ahead of him, secretly rejoicing they didn’t live on the same floor. Otherwise he wouldn’t be able to get away from him. It would at least shorten his lifespan by ten years!

Who knew as they passed the second floor, that person was walking ahead. 

Passing the third floor, he was still walking ahead. 

Passing the fourth floor…..

How! Come! He! Wasn’t! Stopping!

Qi Chen: “…..” 

Squeezing the key, he stood at the door of his dormitory and turned to his right with a grave expression on his face. He saw Executive Leader Long open the door of the dormitory next door, walking inside without even throwing a glance his way, then closing the door behind him with a ‘clang’. 

….. What happened to it being dark and uninhabited?! 

Qi Chen walked through the door with a stupefied expression. It was only then that he remembered this surnamed Long fellow had been out on a business trip and only returned today. It was completely normal for the dormitory to be dark yesterday. 

He sat in front of the table, trying to remember which finger had taken the keys when he was picking a room. He really wanted to take a knife and chop it off, ending the trouble at its root. 

Spring nights were actually somewhat colder than winter, urging people to burrow into their quilts earlier. 

It was unknown if it was because he was unused to the new environment or for some other reason. Qi Chen slept extremely uncomfortably. He twisted his head and face, trapped dizzyingly within numerous disordered dreams yet was persistently unable to awaken. 

He dreamed he was awakened by the sharp sound of an old fashioned alarm clock. Then, he grabbed his phone, tottering as he felt his way out of the dormitory amidst heavy darkness and out onto the streets. He was like a drunkard, swaying back and forth, seemingly unable to walk in a straight line. 

It was like someone was using a low pixel video camera to secretly capture this scene with continuous shaking and endless darkness. 

A senile female voice penetrated the dim chaotic fog, reaching his ears indistinctly. It sounded like crying and sighing. The voice was fleeting and strange. 

“Beg you….” 

“Begging you….” 

“Come here ah….” 

“Come here alright…..” 

The hoarse and aged voice became more and more impatient. One sound overlapping another, neither quiet or loud, neither near or far. It piled up heavily making Qi Chen really want to cover his ears. 

“You come over here alright? Alright—–” The originally light voice suddenly became sharp, like someone had switched on a voice changer. The entire tone became abnormally high. The last word was even more high pitched, like nails scratching across aluminium, making goosebumps erupt.

Qi Chen was suddenly pulled from his dreams just as he felt like his eardrums were about to burst from the sharp sound. 

“Hey!” A low voice sounded beside his ear, tone still full of impatience, “Was that BQQ brushed with sleeping drugs, can’t even be woken like this?!” 

Qi Chen still hadn’t fully woken from his dreams, vaguely making a ‘wu’ sound, somewhat unclear about the situation. 

“Who are you….” His voice still contained the nasal and slightly hoarse quality of sleep. With half lidded eyes he waved his hand a couple of times towards the source of the buzzing sound by his ear like he wanted to drive away this annoying person’s voice.

“Open your eyes!” That voice became even more annoyed. Qi Chen hadn’t even reacted before he felt his forehead being heavily hit.

The “pa—–” sound was clear and sharp. 

“Ow!” With the combined effect of the stinging pain and the crisp sound, Qi Chen finally opened his eyes, completely withdrawing from his chaotic thoughts. He subconsciously covered his forehead and said somewhat angrily: “Who hit me?”

The irritable Qi Chen wanted to retort before realising where he was. His entire body stiffened.

This was the intersection of Wen Chang road in Jia Yang district. It was no more than a kilometre away from the company. It could be reached after exiting the front door and following the street for five to six minutes. You only needed to walk straight, there weren’t even any turns. It was really very close. 

But no matter how close it was, it shouldn’t be where Qi Chen was currently standing. He should be lying in bed in his dormitory! 

But after rubbing his eyes and pinching his arm, Qi Chen had to admit he really was standing in this mother fucking place. 

“Ss.” Suddenly his sore arm reminded Qi Chen. Only then did he realise his right hand was firmly gripping onto something. Lowering his head to look, he found that it was the phone he’d previously thrown on the night stand.

…..

In that instant, Qi Chen felt like he’d been doused in ice water.

jie/姐- directly translates to older sister and is used as a term of address for females older than you, not just your actual family

daye/大爷- usually this is a term of respect for elders but here it is used in mocking way. 

ancestor/祖宗- literal translation. Depending on the context, it can be respectful or mocking.

one really can’t avoid their enemy/冤家路窄- literally means for enemies the road is narrow aka they’ll inevitably meet.