Assistant Architect

Assistant Architectby Xi He Qing Ling

_______________

FuXinhui tried to kick Zhang Siyi. He retreated back to the corner of the sofawhile shouting: “She let you be a regular guest to attract female studentsto participate in special activities, but those female students don't know you.They are coming to you based on your appearance and then you must accompany themto drink while at the party. What about sleeping? If this isn't what a Rent-Boyis, then what is it!? Hey! Don't touch me! You said you weren't angry!”

FuXinhui knocked Zhang Siyi over and got on top of him. In order to prevent himfrom getting away, he straddled him with one foot on the edge of the sofa and aknee on his thigh. Fu Xinhui pressed down on Zhang Siyi shoulders with hishands. Gnashing his teeth, Fu Xinhui yelled: "You said I'm a Rent-Boy? Let'ssee how good I am! I will take you first for practice!"

Struggling,Zhang Siyi yelled at him: “Fuck You! I’m being honest!"

Whilethe two of them are yelling at each other making a scene, the door suddenlyopened, both Jiang Hai and Tian stepped forward into the apartment calling forFu Xinhui. They did not expect to see the scene on the sofa.

ZhangSiyi: “…” (⊙⊙)

FuXinhui: “…” (=_=)

JiangHai stepped back a small step and said with a smile: “Oh, you, you…continue…”

TianYujing also shyly squinted: “That… we didn’t know…. you are doing…that…”

ZhangSiyi: “…”

Withsuch provocative evidence, it will be hard to come clean.

ZhangSiyi rushed to explain: “No, it's not what you think!”

FuXinhui also nodded in a dignified position, then the two separated at thefastest speed, sitting at the two ends of the sofa, separated by a gap of up toone meter long, there is a sense of ambiguity.

Allred, Zhang Siyi’s tried to explain: “We were just playing casually!”

JiangHai is quiet: “….”

FuXinhui nodded again, and then thought half of the point seemed to feel wrong.What is "just playing"? He looked at Zhang Siyi with surprise: “Is thatfun?” After asking this sentence, Fu Xinhui realized that his question wasalso ambiguous.

Jiang Hai has been thoroughlypetrified. At this moment, his mind is like a field of thriving grass and a hugehorse is running through it. – I am stunned by my two former roommates!

TianYujing face is red. Although a little shy, Zhang Siyi sees the same green lightin her eyes that he has seen in Bi Lele's….

“No,no! We were just fooling around….” Zhang Siyi hung his head on the sofaand hit the back with his head.

FuXinhui coughed a little and calmly said: “Don't get me wrong. I just told himthat I found a job and then I got upset over a little problem.”

JiangHai nodded stiffly. It turned out that you got a job, so you are so excitedthat you wanted to come up to him on the sofa!

FuXinhui inhaled and exhaled a few times. They seem to be digging a deeper grave.

Theatmosphere in the room is unprecedentedly different. As if there was a clear bubblesafe-zone enchantment, Jiang Hai and Tian Yujian quietly stood at the entrance.If they go one step further, the gay light exuding from Fu Xinhui and ZhangSiyi will blast them to smithereens.

TianYujing saw that Jiang Hai was irritated and could not speak. She said: “Iam sorry, we did not intentionally bother you. Since we hadn't seen you for solong, and New Year's is approaching we thought to stop by…." Feeling guilty shecontinued: "Hey, we should have called ahead of time."

FuXinhui didn’t know how to explain it. At this moment, Tian Yujing suddenlyscreamed: “It’s so cute!” It turned out to be a Cheer-Up. All theirattention was given to the two men, so they never noticed the dog. As if oncue, Cheer-Up walked over and sat near Tian Yujing.

TianYujing was really stunned and bent down to pet him. Jiang Hai also regainedsome sense and asked, “Hey? Do you have a dog?” As the atmosphereeased, Fu Xinhui and Zhang Siyi breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that thisdog is not useless.

“Well,I have been raising it for more than a month,” Fu Xinhui got up and walkedover to Jiang Hai. “On the day you decided not to continue with rent, Igot the dog."

“Youare handsome,” Jiang Hai smiled at the dog. Handing Fu Xinhui the fruit hehad bought to them, he crouched down to pet the dog: “This is a golden retriever,isn’t it? It looks tame. What’s his name?"

FuXinhui: “I named him Cheer-Up.”

JiangHai: “Cheer-Up? Ha-ha, good name, suitable for you.

FuXinhui: “….”

ZhangSiyi also came over, scolding Cheer-Up: “You might think he is cute butthis stupid dog, he just pees everywhere! I have a score to settle with him!"

ZhangSiyi has a pair of beautiful black leather shoes he bought while in the UK. Theyfit perfectly and are super comfortable. They are casual yet formal enough tobe worn in almost any occasion. Since he mainly wears them during the week, hedoesn't regularly put them in the shoe closet. One morning, he hurried to workand put his shoes on and felt his foot get wet. Examining the shoe moreclosely, Zhang Siyi found it soaked with urine. One night of urination and the shoewas ruined by the dog which is equal to a pair of shoes scrapped. Zhang Siyiwas so angry that day. He turned towards the dog and glared at Cheer-Up with murderousintent.

Listeningto the reprimand, Cheer-Up leaned against Tian Yujing and leaned his buttagainst Zhang Siyi. Tian Yujing's heart has been won over: "Zhang Siyi, don'tbe mean to it! It's just a small puppy."

JiangHai also helped: “That is, you have to be patient and teach the puppy sohe will be quiet and not disturb people….” Hey, come here boy, give unclea hug!”

ZhangSiyi's mouth twitched, why did he suddenly feel that his friends came to visitCheer-Up and not him? (=_=)

JiangHai asked: “Where does he sleep and eat?”

FuXinhui pointed to the basin at the entrance of the bathroom: “He will eatdog food and sleep in the living room on the sofa with a dog blanket.”

JiangHai nodded: “It’s just fine.”

ZhangSiyi thought: If Fu Xinhui first told you that he is raising the dog in yourroom, let's see if you will say it is just fine!

Playingwith Cheer-Up, Jiang Hai brought the conversation back to the beginning: “Youmentioned a job…. What is going on?” He went to sit on the sofa andlistened to Fu Xinhui retell the story.

TianYujian carried fruit to the kitchen with Zhang Siyi’s help. After the fruit wassliced, they brought out a fruit tray and hot tea and joined the discussion.Relaxing on the sofa Zhang Siyi put his feet up: "As soon as I said he was likea Rent-Boy, he was furious and jumped at me. That's when you came inside andsaw."

Inhis mind, Jiang Hai wanted to block the scene he just saw, but for his friendhe continued: "I don't think you are so short of money, right? So, what is itthen? "

Asthis was his idea, he needed to explain it better. Fu Xinhui gently sighed:“Yes, I do not care about the money. 1800 is not enough for me to buy aT-shirt. I only care about the long-term benefits this job could bring me. Myfamily situation is also more or less what you mentioned, maybe Zhang Siyi knowsa little more, but before that, my attitude to life is particularly negative."

JiangHai was nodding to express his considerable approval.

FuXinhui raised his hands to wipe his face. Staring down at the coffee table hecontinued: “Some days ago Zhang Siyi advised me to pull myself together. Ithought he was right so the first thing I wanted to do was try and find a job,but to tell you the truth, there aren't many suitable jobs for me to do."

JiangHai nodded again: “Yes, your profession has been vacant for half a year, andnow it is the industry downturn, and at the end of the year, it is difficult tofind a good job.”

Inthe case of other industries, Fu Xinhui in addition to a slightly more fluentspoken English, can only rely on his looks, temperament and family background,but these things in the big city like Haicheng, with a fair amount ofcompetition, are meaningless. A regular company is looking at the definitivepower of the applicant. Besides, because of his background, Fu Xinhui’sstarting point is so high, that his character won't be able to adapt to workingat the bottom of a small company nine to five.

FuXinhui: “If I want a better starting point, I can only rely on my familyor my parent's friends. I don't want to rely on them. Aside from my familybackground, I only know you. While you support me in the spirit, you are juststarting out and can't help me elevate my starting point."

Forhis own weakness, Zhang Siyi suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. Like hisfriend, Shen Hao, from back home, he wanted to be able to extend an olivebranch and give Fu Xinhui a leg up with an offer for definitive work and wages,but he doesn't have the power right now.

FuXinhui paused, and then said: “When I spoke with the girl, she told methere were only a few dozen people when she founded the Turtle club. In thebeginning, she gathered the people around her regularly for parties. Laterthose people invited other friends, and those other friends brought more andsoon enough, it led to couples. She recognized the business opportunity forthis sort of thing.

Helooked at Zhang Siyi and said: “Remember the two firms that were involveda few days ago after your company's annual meeting? You called me to go to KTVto sing and afterwards, several girls sent me WeChat messages….”

Hearingthe seriousness in Fu Xinhui tone, Zhang Siyi nodded. He only remembered hisfriend saying he wanted to get a dog to help himself cheer up. Zhang Siyididn't know Fu Xinhui would continue to think about the issue so earnestly.

FuXinhui said: "Well, even before that, I had doubts about the girls' offer, butafter meeting people at KTV for your annual meeting, I understood what theTurtle Club is about. It is essentially the same thing."

FuXinhui slightly raised his eyes and looked at everyone: “The girl has amonthly income of several hundred thousand. What do you think depends on it? Doesshe have a high IQ or a strong background? It is nothing but a network ofcontacts built from scratch. Today, what are people? They are a commodity, abusiness opportunity, they are money.”

Everyone:“…”

FuXinhui firmly said: “This is the reason why I promised her to do the job.If I want to stand on my own feet, I will have to establish my own network. Inthat club, most of the people who participate in the event are people with thesame background as me. She is using me, and I am using her. This is the firststep I took to change the status quo.”