Deluge

Pei Yu’s house was much larger than his apartment at the faculty dorms. As it was already late after they moved in, and they were also tired, the two of them decided to first make the bed and take a break before tidying up the next day.

Laid up in bed with the lights off, Xu Juan felt a little dazed. 

Just yesterday, he was still living his life as if in a game, but today, the world had turned upside down and he had no choice but to rely on someone else and live under their roof.

He knew that it wasn’t that serious an issue. As long as he was willing to lower his head and apologize, he would be able to instantly go back to living extravagantly. But he didn’t wish to go back.

Some roads, though resembling a way out, were actually dead ends.

In the dark, Xu Juan turned over and hugged Pei Yu. Feeling that familiar, warm body, he gained a touch of reassurance. 

It really was nice to be in another’s company. Despite the struggle in his heart, he didn’t feel the slightest bit lonely.

“Oh, right, Pei laoshi.” Xu Juan suddenly said, “Today is teacher’s day, we were so busy I nearly forgot. Happy teacher’s day.”

Pei Yu let out a laugh.

Xu Juan said: “Unfortunately, it’s too late to prepare a gift.”

Then, he got an idea, abruptly getting off the bed and turning the lights on before running out into the living room.

“What are you doing?” Pei Yu sat up.

Xu Juan’s voice travelled from the living room: “Wait a moment!”

“……” 

Pei Yu waited on the bed, unable to see what the other was fiddling with outside. He could only hear some rustling noises. A few minutes later, Xu Juan returned.

With his right hand hidden behind him, he opened the door with his other hand and walked in front of Pei Yu.

“Happy teacher’s day.” Xu Juan said again, then revealed his right hand, “For you.”

It was a flower, a flower made of paper. 

The white paper was folded into the shape of a flower, its “petals” threaded with pink ribbons cut from plastic bags. The white and pink alternated, appearing a little crude. But it didn’t look too bad either, carrying with it hints of raw beauty.

Pei Yu was a little dazed: “You’re amazing. Thank you.”

He accepted the flower that Xu Juan offered, his eyes brimming with happiness. Leaning in to kiss him, Xu Juan plucked the flower from his hands and placed it at the head of the bed. Free of worries, the two of them messed around in the bedsheets for a long time, only falling asleep in each other’s arms once they’d kissed their fill.

…… 

Despite being exhausted the previous day, early the next morning, Pei Yu still woke up at six thirty.

Once he had gotten up, Xu Juan couldn’t fall back asleep either.

Xu Juan wasn’t one who had to sleep in his own bed, but because he harboured worries in his heart, he wasn’t able to sleep well last night. While washing up, he looked in the mirror and discovered he shockingly had dark circles under his eyes now. They weren’t too obvious, but were still undoubtedly there, making his face appear somewhat haggard.

“I’m doomed.” Xu Juan lamented comedically, “This young master’s beauty is about to wither. How will I fool around in the future?” 

Passing by the bathroom door, Pei Yu gave him a displeased glare: “Where are you planning to fool around?”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Xu Juan immediately shut up.

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Regarding the future, Pei Yu had given him a few suggestions.

While they were having breakfast, Pei Yu had first discussed it with him and gotten to know the actual situation his company was in. Then, he asked: “Can the company still be saved? Do you want to save it?”

Xu Juan said “yes”.

If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have to pump in so much money annually to maintain operations. If he were truly just looking for something to do, he could’ve gone to his own family’s company to pass his time. 

But Xu Juan insisted on having his own company. It could borderline be considered a career, although it was barely hanging by a thread. Despite that, at least it was something he could call his own. From it, he could derive comfort that needn’t be explained to others, comfort that he could keep to himself.

However, what used to be comfort, had now become stress.

The suggestions that Pei Yu could give him were exactly what they were — suggestions. He advised him to sort out his thoughts and find a clear direction to work hard towards. Or, to give up at the earliest time so he wouldn’t sink deeper into his mess.

But Pei Yu was an academic and knew nothing about business. Once he had given his suggestions, the specifics of what to do were still left up to Xu Juan to figure out, he could only deal with it on his own. 

Xu Juan had a faint hunch that Pei Yu wanted him to give it up.

Pei Yu seemed to be obsessed with raising him, wishing nothing more than for him to stay at home all day, doing calligraphy or maybe completing two paintings a day. This was good enough for him.

However, Pei Yu was a very proper intellectual and a more cultured person. He knew that his way of thinking was selfish, even carrying a suspicion of “straight male chauvinism” that was disrespectful of Xu Juan’s individual sense of identity —— that is, if Xu Juan had such a thing. So, Pei Yu could only vaguely hint at his wishes and didn’t tell Xu Juan directly.

Even if he didn’t say anything, Xu Juan could see it. 

Xu Juan might not be good at most things, but he had a high EQ. How could he not realize Pei Yu’s intentions?

But Xu Juan pretended not to realize.

He had already lived as a parasite raised by his parents for over twenty years. Now, after changing locations, if he continued being a parasite raised by his boyfriend, what meaning was there to that? He might as well just go home.

After breakfast, he headed out with Pei Yu. They went to work but in different directions. 

Pei Yu’s destination was nearby, but Xu Juan’s was far, and he needed to take the subway.

Pei Yu personally sent him to the subway station, helped him download a transport payment app on his phone, and linked his bank card to it, telling him that with this, he wouldn’t need to queue up for tickets.

Xu Juan let out a sigh, murmuring: “Pei Yu, in your heart, am I just a dumb rich kid with absolutely no survival skills and can’t even take the subway?”

“……” 

Pei Yu choked out: “Aren’t I just worried? I was under the assumption that you had never taken public transportation in the past…”

He was a little embarrassed, but also very sincere, his worry written all over his face.

The feelings in Xu Juan’s heart tangled into something more complicated. He suddenly realized, that if one looked at the world from a different perspective, the scenery was indeed different. Even Pei Yu seemed different from before.

What was Pei Yu like before? 

Xu Juan only saw what he wanted to see. In his eyes, Pei Yu could be a painting of a beauty, he could be the secularly naive Xiaolongnü, the innocent and pure heroine of an idol drama. He was whatever Xu Juan felt like admiring.

The only thing he was not, was a Pei Yu made of flesh and blood.

Now, Xu Juan had a slight inkling that he had touched Pei Yu’s flesh and blood.

Pei Yu had left the painting scroll, he had walked down the tall, snow-capped mountain. He had become a real person in front of him. 

He was merely an ordinary man who loved him, cared for him, and was willing to do many little things for him.

“Okay, I got it.” Xu Juan gave Pei Yu a short hug, “Don’t worry. If anything comes up, let’s text on Wechat.”

He bid Pei Yu farewell, then turned around and entered the subway station.

…… 

When he got to the office, it was fifteen minutes past nine.

As the saying went, a leader lacking in qualities will have subordinates who follow in the same footsteps. As the boss, Xu Juan didn’t go to work properly, so how could the employees under him be diligent?

He had arrived so early today that many people weren’t there yet. The office was full of empty desks, the handful of people who were at their desks were either having breakfast or yawning. When everyone noticed him, they looked as if they had seen a ghost.

“D-Director Xu, good morning!” 

“Good morning.” He gave a curt response, ignored all the latecomers, and directly walked into his own office.

His company wasn’t huge but compared to other indie game companies in the industry, it was already considered quite big.

Games weren’t profiting well recently, and Xu Juan had already forgotten why he had wanted to make games, to begin with. Perhaps it was because he was young then, and the people around him were also young. Since it was the digital age, the majority of young people’s hobbies revolved around the same few things.

Xu Juan knew nothing about other industries, so why not dabble in something he was more familiar with? As such, in a moment of impulse, he registered a game company. 

His company was called “Rivulet“, and specialized in making mobile games. 

While making the first few mobile games, Xu Juan’s enthusiasm for entrepreneurship was still novel and fresh. He would follow the development process from beginning to end, often pulling all-nighters to revise the proposal, even forgetting to have meals at his busiest.

But his thinking was already problematic, to begin with.

For the first game, he was still a novice yet to be defeated by the market, so he had a very idealistic mindset. At that time, he thought, I want to make a game that is different from the others. It will not be compromised for the sake of profit, after all, I do not lack money. Most importantly, it needs to have interesting gameplay and a high standard of production. With this much sincerity, it will definitely make a name for itself.

Then, it flopped. 

Xu Juan couldn’t understand, why would it flop?

For the second game, he learned his lesson from the previous time and decided to try a more business-like model. Thus, he drew on the methods of production and operations from industry seniors and went the completely commercial route, creating a mobile game for the purpose of profit. However, he didn’t profit at all, and it flopped yet again.

Xu Juan couldn’t figure out the problem.

He had invested so much, found an excellent distribution platform, and went as far as to hire celebrities for endorsement. He was even willing to lose money rather than make a profit. However, despite investing his blood, sweat, and money, he eventually received feedback that “the game isn’t fun” and failed to retain players. 

What could he do to make it fun? This was a question that haunted Xu Juan day and night.

There were only the same few kinds of fun games. The same type of games was repeatedly launched, and everyone wanted a hand in the profitable genres, causing the serious issue of all games being similar to each other and struggling to stand out.

And in this era where everyone was copying each other, wanting to create something, and create it to high standards, was exceedingly difficult.

Apart from this, there were also policy restrictions and some problems with the company’s internal management—— 

Countless challenges weighed upon Xu Juan’s shoulders. When he walked into the office today, his headache returned.

Back then, he must have been crazy to want to make games. But then again, even if making games was difficult, what wasn’t?

There were three hundred and sixty industries, and every industry was a pit of fire.

Xu Juan had his secretary Xiao Lin go buy a cup of coffee. He wasn’t used to coming to work so early and was feeling a little sleepy. 

Xiao Lin had heard about what happened with his family, but in her opinion, even if a prince was stranded in the world of commoners, a prince was still a prince. As such, despite their Director Xu being under so much stress, with “worried” written all over his face, she couldn’t understand.

“Your coffee.” Xiao Lin quietly stole a glance at Xu Juan, saying in a small voice, “Oh, right. Director Xu, Li Mengzhou is planning to visit the company today. Are you aware of this?”

How could Xu Juan be aware: “What is he coming here for?”

“To shoot an advertisement, of course.” Xiao Lin deliberated over how to phrase her words, then carefully said, “Back when he and you were, uhm… back then, didn’t he sign with our company as the ambassador of our new game?” 

“……”

Oh, so it was a problem left behind from the past.

Xu Juan had completely forgotten about this.

He didn’t care if Li Mengzhou was coming or not. His first reaction was actually: Has the endorsement fee been paid yet? If it hadn’t, Li Mengzhou was so popular and was probably not cheap to hire, how would he come up with the money to pay him? 

Xu Juan’s headache suddenly worsened.

Xiao Lin thought that it was because he didn’t want to see Li Mengzhou and said very considerately: “He’s just coming over to pick the shooting locations and record highlights, it won’t take long. I’ll keep a lookout for you, and try not to let the two of you meet.”

Xu Juan had no intention to say more, waving a hand to dismiss Xiao Lin.

Xiao Lin’s flattery had backfired, so she left very awkwardly. 

Xu Juan sat in the office and spaced out, then decided to first call for a meeting and clarify the most pressing issue before dealing with the rest of the company’s internal problems.

The meeting went on for quite a few hours. Xu Juan had long since forgotten about Li Mengzhou.

After the meeting, when he was heading to the washroom to wash his hands, someone suddenly tugged at the hem of his shirt.

Xu Juan froze and turned to look in the direction of the tug, only to see Li Mengzhou walking out from behind a corner. His head was lowered, expression covered by his messy bangs. From his appearance, it seemed as if he wanted to come closer but was afraid to at the same time. Cowering, he said: “Ge, I’ve waited ages for you. Can we talk for a bit?” 

“……”