TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 4

With the chicken in hand, Zhuang Yanyu quickly entered Uncle Liu’s yard.

Uncle Liu’s family was busy, and Zhuang’s eyes scanned the area like a detector, but he didn’t see any strangers other than Uncle Liu’s family.

“Xiao Yu, you’re back?” Uncle Liu noticed him right away and greeted him warmly.

“Yes, Uncle Liu.” Zhuang Yanyu pursed his lips and asked, “The guests… aren’t here?”

Uncle Liu chuckled. “You mean those big shots? They’re down by the river fishing.”

Chatty but good-hearted, Uncle Liu assumed Zhuang was just curious and continued happily. He mentioned that one of the three guests had been there before, a very generous man with a particular love for their free-range chickens, which he said tasted better than elsewhere’s. This time, he’d even brought his friends.

“My son said each of their cars must be worth at least several million. They’re all big shots, but not at all stuck-up—very down-to-earth.”

Thinking to himself, Zhuang Yanyu thought, Of course—my brother is amazing.

Uncle Liu said, “They’ll be staying for quite a while. They mentioned wanting to eat the fish they catch tonight, and they asked us to cook it. The fish here are tasty too.”

Hearing that Wen Chenxi and his friends wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon, Zhuang Yanyu relaxed and quietly listened, helping out Uncle Liu as he did.

Uncle Liu quickly noticed that whenever he needed something—scissors, for instance—Zhuang Yanyu would hand it to him before he even asked. When he needed water to rinse something, Zhuang had already brought it over.

This kind of familiarity was usually only found among people who had lived together for a long time, becoming accustomed to each other’s habits. But Uncle Liu actually barely knew Zhuang Yanyu, having only occasionally seen him over the past two months. Before that, he’d only known that Old Zhuang had a son, but they’d never met.

Surprised, Uncle Liu said, “Xiao Yu, how come you know exactly what I need like you’re a worm in my stomach?”

Zhuang Yanyu replied, “Behavioral logic deduction.”

Uncle Liu looked puzzled. “What’s that?”

Before Zhuang could explain, someone called Uncle Liu from the kitchen to steam the chicken. Uncle Liu waved goodbye to Zhuang and hurried inside.

With Uncle Liu gone, Zhuang had no excuse to stay, so he turned and walked out, this time at a very slow pace.

He calculated his steps based on the average human stride of 50 to 70 cm. He had previously set his stride length to an average of 60 cm, with each step taking 0.8 seconds. If he slowed it to 50 cm per step, taking 1.5 seconds per step, he could extend the time and distance home…

But no matter how much he tried to drag it out, his home—only about ten meters away—appeared quickly.

So he changed direction and strolled towards the riverbank instead.

The sun, though not yet at its peak, was already blazing hot, especially in the southern climate. Standing outside for just a moment left him drenched in sweat. Fortunately, this spot was surrounded by mountains and water, shaded by trees, with a breeze bringing cool relief from the summer heat.

By the river, three men—typically busy and nearly impossible to schedule—were now leisurely fishing on outdoor chairs.

It’s often said that nine out of ten men enjoy fishing, and Wen Chenxi’s friends were no exception.

“Not a bad spot, huh?” Ji Zhiyuan said proudly. “When Old Zhou brought me here last time, I immediately thought I had to bring you guys here too.”

“The fish here are nice and plump,” Li Xi said as he reeled in a lively fish. “We could have a whole fish feast tonight.”

Out of the three, Wen Chenxi was the only one who hadn’t caught anything yet.

But he didn’t seem bothered; instead, he set his unmoving fishing rod aside, picked up his laptop from a nearby stool, and checked the latest email from Assistant Lin.

The email contained Zhuang Yanyu’s personal details.

One night was more than enough for Wen Chenxi to memorize the information, yet he couldn’t resist taking another look.

Li Xi commented, “Old Wen, we agreed not to bring work here. Why are you on your laptop again?”

Wen Chenxi replied casually, “Just reading some information.”

Ji Zhiyuan muttered, “What kind of information do you need to read right now? I even turned off my work phone to avoid disruptions—today’s my birthday, after all!”

Wen Chenxi’s tone was flat. “Mm. It’s a leap year, so there’s a second and third ‘June’ birthday after this one.”

He’d long since grown accustomed to this. Even in non-leap years, Ji Zhiyuan insisted on separate celebrations for his birthdays according to both the lunar and solar calendars.

Li Xi chuckled, “That’s not quite the point. For the later birthdays, he won’t have the same freedom. Even if he doesn’t throw a party, his parents won’t let him slip away, and Old Wen, you’re always the busiest of us. It’s rare we get a chance to hang out.”

The two friends playfully chided Wen Chenxi, but he remained focused on his laptop.

To be precise, he was looking at Zhuang Yanyu’s ID photo.

The photo was high-resolution, showcasing a fresh, handsome face, brimming with youthful energy. His gaze, bright and intense like a lighthouse on the shoreline, seemed to glow with an unmistakable vitality, even across the screen.

Even though he’d viewed the photo dozens of times, it still felt remarkably new to Wen Chenxi as he quietly admired it.

Was he here to fish, or to gaze at “Yu”?

Realizing the pun in his mind—fish and Yu sounded the same—Wen Chenxi’s lips curved slightly.

Seeing him staring intently at the screen, his friends couldn’t help but sigh. “Honestly, only us good friends can put up with you. Anyone else on a date with you, only to watch you work, would’ve left by now. I’m certain you’re destined to be single forever, Old Wen.”

Li Xi laughed, “It’s not even about being single—it’d be harder to get him to fall for someone! Have you ever seen him interested in anyone all these years? He’s like an ironwood tree; there’s no way he’d ever blossom.”

Ji Zhiyuan thought about it and agreed. “True. So, Old Wen, what kind of person do you even like? My company has tons of good-looking men and women. They might not all be A-listers, but they’re definitely easy on the eyes. Want me to send over some photos for you to pick from?”

Wen Chenxi saved Zhuang Yanyu’s photo to his laptop and showed zero interest in Ji Zhiyuan’s suggestion. “No need, I’m not interested.”

Just as he was about to put away his laptop, Wen Chenxi caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

The very person he’d been staring at on his screen had now appeared in his line of sight. Wen Chenxi turned to look, and sure enough, it was the “Yu” he’d just been looking at.

He raised an eyebrow. What a coincidence.

Nearby, Zhuang Yanyu was bowing his head, calculating angles and directions.

Human vision had its limits, unlike his perspective back when he was a system. The system view offered a 360-degree panorama, whereas a human’s single-eye view maxed out at around 150 degrees, and the horizontal field of both eyes together could reach about 188 degrees. But the overlapping visual field for both eyes was roughly 124 degrees. In other words, only within that 124-degree range could objects appear three-dimensional to human eyes.

This excludes all issues like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.

However, since Wen Chenxi wears glasses, this isn’t an issue for him.

In Zhuang Yanyu’s view, it was as if a fan-shaped area appeared. This fan shape was oriented with Wen Chenxi’s direction as the line of sight. Wen Chenxi’s line of sight spanned 124 degrees, leaving only a 45-degree angle from where Zhuang Yanyu currently stood.

In other words, if he moved forward and closed that 45-degree gap, he would enter Wen Chenxi’s full field of view, appearing as a three-dimensional figure rather than just a flat silhouette.

Zhuang Yanyu took a step forward—20 degrees to go.

He lowered his head, looking straight ahead, took a larger step, and reduced it to 5 degrees.

He should be able to see him now.

Sure enough, in the next moment, Wen Chenxi’s voice sounded—

“Zhuang Yanyu?”

Feigning surprise, Zhuang Yanyu looked up, his gaze falling on Wen Chenxi. He put on the expression he had practiced, a look of confusion. “Mr. Wen?”

Zhuang Yanyu naturally walked over and politely asked, “Mr. Wen, what are you doing here?”

But then Zhuang Yanyu quickly realized a question—how did Wen Chenxi know his name?

They had only encountered each other once before, in the elevator.

However, Zhuang Yanyu quickly dismissed his curiosity. This was the guy his boss had assigned to him in a previous life. Of course, the progress could be faster; he had been worried about having to reintroduce himself.

Wen Chenxi adjusted his glasses, hiding the sharp look in his eyes behind the frameless lenses. “I’m here with friends. How about you?”

Zhuang Yanyu smiled at him. “I live here.”

Wen Chenxi quickly recalled the personal information he had just reviewed about Zhuang Yanyu.

Right, his hometown address was indeed here.

Ji Zhiyuan and Li Xi looked over with curiosity. “Old Wen, who is this?”

Wen Chenxi succinctly replied, “An employee from the company, Zhuang Yanyu.”

Zhuang Yanyu politely greeted them. “Hello.”

He quietly sighed. Originally, it should’ve been him fishing leisurely with his buddy.

“What a coincidence. Come on, Xiao Zhuang, have a seat,” Ji Zhiyuan warmly invited Zhuang Yanyu. “You look quite young. To be someone that Old Wen remembers, you must be some sort of impressive technical talent, right? Such a promising young man!”

Zhuang Yanyu replied politely, “No, I’m in the ‘service’ department.”

“Oh, the service department.”

Ji Zhiyuan and Li Xi exchanged a look. Azure Technology had thousands of employees at its headquarters alone, and they had assumed someone Wen Chenxi would greet would be some kind of high-level technical talent. After all, it was a tech company, where technology was the key. But apparently not.

This made things rather intriguing.

The two of them gave Wen Chenxi a meaningful look.

Wen Chenxi ignored their glances and handed his fishing rod to Zhuang Yanyu. “Do you know how to fish?”

Zhuang Yanyu was a bit flattered; it felt like a sudden increase from 0% to 50% on the friendship bar—a rush similar to absorbing too much inner strength in a martial arts novel.

Zhuang Yanyu replied, “I’ve never fished before, but I think I can.”

Wen Chenxi raised an eyebrow. “Think?”

Zhuang Yanyu recited, “Casting, reeling, pressing the water line, managing heavy bait and countering fish jumping back…”

Seeing Zhuang Yanyu reciting it like a fishing guide, Wen Chenxi raised his eyebrows slightly. “Give it a try.”

Wen Chenxi replaced the half-eaten bait with new bait and cast it out for Zhuang Yanyu.

With everything prepared for him, and all he had to do was fish, Zhuang Yanyu felt that warmth spread even more and responded eagerly with a “Sure!”

This friend truly matched him well; they were perfectly in sync!

—-

Author’s Note:

PS—Mini Theater:

Scheming Xiao Zhuang: I finally met my friend! The assignment was spot-on! We’re destined to be good friends!

Wen Chenxi: Up close, I like him even more. Heartthrob +100%.

Feel free to donate for earlier/bonus chapter releases! Thanks for supporting me and enjoy reading 😀