Chapter 16 #2
Chang Jinxing snapped his fingers and went to change clothes. Then he went to the fridge, grabbed and pocketed Chen Hong’s gym prep meal—a sandwich made with whole wheat bread—and left. Zhang Yuwen glanced at Zheng Weize’s room and sighed inwardly.
Chen Hong returned just as Chang Jinxing left.
He’d been out and about, giving his gym members private home lessons.
It was so frigid outside he kept shivering as he lingered in the foyer, finishing up a phone call.
Once he was done with his call, he entered the house.
Seeing his tenants come and go daily, Zhang Yuwen felt like he was watching the ebb and flow of life.
Chen Hong had been too busy to eat, but now he returned, famished, to find the last bit of his spiritual comfort gone. “Where’s my lunch?!” he howled.
“Jinxing took it,” Zhang Yuwen told him. “There’s leftover rice from my lunch. You can eat it with some sauce.”
Chen Hong was too hungry to even care about carbs. He gobbled up a few mouthfuls and then went to make coffee.
Zhang Yuwen paled. “I really can’t take any more,” he said. “I already had three mugs of coffee.”
But Chen Hong insisted on handing him a mug. “It’s decaffeinated. I bought the beans separately.” Zhang Yuwen was forced to accept it. Chen Hong continued, “I found you a suitable match. You wanna meet him?”
Zhang Yuwen whipped his head up. He hadn’t expected Chen Hong to find someone so quickly, and he suddenly felt nervous. “What does he look like?”
“Uh, he’s one of my clients,” Chen Hong said vaguely. “He’s a little shy and would rather not share his photo. I didn’t give him your photo either. I just said that you…have lots in common.”
“Huh? Not even a photo? Are you telling me to go in blind?” Zhang Yuwen asked. “Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Well, it’s important to have some excitement in your life.”
A day ago, Zhang Yuwen might have disagreed, but now he was wondering if his life was too predictable. Maybe he did need a little thrill. “Then I’ll add his contact for a chat.”
“He’s…also too shy to add you as a contact,” Chen Hong said, shutting Zhang Yuwen up instantly. “Look on the bright side. If you meet and he’s no good, you can just pick up and leave with no concerns whatsoever, right?”
“What the hell?!” Zhang Yuwen was torn between laughter and tears.
“He’s willing to have a meal with you so you can have a conversation and get to know each other. If you guys think it’s a good match, you can exchange contact info.”
“How old is he?”
“In his twenties, the same as you,” Chen Hong said. “Whether he’s a top or bottom, I have no idea. I didn’t ask.”
“What type of guy is he? And how tall?”
Chen Hong shrugged. “All I can say is that he basically meets your requirements. No, actually, he’s your ideal type, aside from not being a Cancer. You’ll be satisfied with him. Whether or not he’ll be satisfied, I can’t say. After all, I know you better.”
“Is he a lively and bubbly younger guy?” Zhang Yuwen asked. He could go with it. He didn’t mind if they didn’t get together in the end; a fling would be fun too.
Chen Hong changed the topic. “So, will you go? I promise I didn’t tell him much about you, but he told me once that he likes your type.
” Zhang Yuwen gave him a skeptical look.
“He’s already made a reservation at this restaurant.
You decide if you want to go or not. If not, I’ll tell him to cancel it. ”
Chen Hong showed Zhang Yuwen a website on his phone. Zhang Yuwen had been to the restaurant before. It was pretty expensive. “At such an expensive place?” Zhang Yuwen asked, a little surprised.
“He said he’d treat you. You can drive the landlord’s car.”
Zhang Yuwen’s car was a Bentley coupe. It was even more expensive than Huo Sichen’s car, but he had told everyone that it was the landlord’s property and that he only took it out for an occasional spin.
“Are you going to go?” Chen Hong asked again.
“You haven’t told me anything about him!” Zhang Yuwen said. “I’m totally going in blind?”
“He’s also going in blind. It’s fair.”
“Well, I guess I’ll go, since he already made the reservation. Is he still in school?”
“I think he’s working already. Seems like a young talent?” Chen Hong said. “I’ll reply to him, then. It’ll be on Wednesday—tomorrow night.”
Filled with uncertainty, Zhang Yuwen agreed. This blind date was as nerve-wracking as the first time he joined a film crew and participated in a shoot. He hadn’t felt this kind of thrill in years.
He couldn’t help but imagine what his blind date might look like.
He couldn’t sleep after the four mugs of coffee he’d drunk in the afternoon, so he was tossing and turning in bed when it dawned on him: Maybe this was the “uncertainty” he had been seeking.
But man, this was a bit too much excitement…
Oh! It was already five in the morning! Zhang Yuwen felt like going out for a run, but, like, seriously, did he really have to jump from extreme boredom to extreme excitement so abruptly?
Zhang Yuwen finally got up in the afternoon.
His stomach was churning over his impending blind date, but he didn’t plan to turn to his roommates for comfort.
Wasn’t this anxiety what he’d been looking for?
Having finally captured that fleeting feeling, he sat down to put it to page, but when he opened his laptop and saw the mountain of trash that had accumulated over his days of work, he didn’t know where to start.