Chapter 40: Bland, Not Bland - Xixi's Translations

Xixi12-15 minutes 08.08.2022

When Chen Yuchuan went to work, he deliberately bought a lot of wedding candies. The people in the company asked him if there were any happy events recently, and he said he just got married.

No one believed him; they all thought he was joking.

He just gave them candies without further explanation, and every time he gave away a piece of candy to an employee, he would force them to tell him “happy marriage and good relationship for a hundred years.” These employees just thought that he was just showing his affection in disguise.

Guang Haobo had already started work, and he sent him the location.

Lu Yang had a party to attend in the evening, and so after getting off work, Chen Yuchuan had dinner near Guang Haobo’s workplace and then went in to check on him.

The coffee shop wasn’t large, but the environment was very good. When Chen Yuchuan went there, the store was about to close, and so there weren’t many people in the shop.

When he opened the glass door, he saw Guang Haobo standing next to the coffee machine, wearing an apron with the store’s logo on it. He was holding a coffee cup in one hand and a small pot of milk in the other, making a pattern. It didn’t look too bad.

“Haobo…” Chen Yuchuan called.

Guang Haobo heard Chen Yuchuan’s voice and turned to look at him. His hands shook, the pot of milk went askew, and the milky white foam spilled around the rim of the cup and dripped onto the back of his hand.

“Be careful,” Chen Yuchuan exclaimed, leaning against the bar.

The waitress next to Guang Haobo quickly grabbed a few tissues and handed them to him.

Guang Haobo took the proffered tissues and thanked the girl. As he wiped his hand with the tissues, he said, “Big Brother Chuan, why are you here?”

“I just wanted to come in and check out your workplace.”

Guang Haobo said, “Wait for me. I’ll make another cup for the guest. You can find an empty seat first.”

“I’ll take this cup,” Chen Yuchuan pointed to the cup Guang Haobo had been working on.

“It’s okay, Big Brother Chuan. I’ll make you a new cup later.”

He didn’t protest and simply picked the coffee cup off the counter. “You’re busy. I’ll wait, I’m not in a hurry.”

“Oh, good.”

Chen Yuchuan chose an empty seat near the counter and took a sip of the coffee.

Lu Yang liked to drink coffee, but Chen Yuchuan had never liked the taste of it much. Even so, whenever Lu Yang made a pot of coffee, he would always join in on the fun and take a sip of the freshly brewed coffee directly from Lu Yang’s cup.

The taste of this coffee was different from what Lu Yang usually drank. It was a bit sweeter, while what Lu Yang usually drank was very bitter.

He didn’t take more than a few sips. Although it was a little bit sweeter, it still wasn’t as good as Lu Yang’s coffee. He attributed this taste to Lu Yang, and not the actual coffee itself.

Guang Haobo was still busy, so Chen Yuchuan sent a message to Lu Yang, telling him the location of the coffee shop.

Did you drive there yourself? Lu Yang quickly messaged back.

Yeah, I drove here.

I drank too much. Lu Yang responded. He sent another message with his location, and added: I’ll be finished here in half an hour.

I’ll pick you up later.

He clicked on the location that Lu Yang sent him and saw that it was only three kilometers from the coffee shop. He would wait for Guang Haobo, pick Lu Yang up, and then send Guang Haobo home first.

After serving the last customer in the store, Guang Haobo took off his apron and came to sit opposite him.

Looking at the work clothes Guang Haobo was wearing, Chen Yuchuan said, “Look at how well you’re making coffee and latte art. You can teach me later. Lu Yang likes to drink coffee, but I’ve never been able to make it well.”

“Of course. It’s actually not very difficult.” Guang Haobo got up, wanting to show Chen Yuchuan right away.

Chen Yuchuan stopped him, remember that this fool, no matter what you say, he would take it seriously.

“I mean when there’s time in the future,” Chen Yuchuan explained.

Guang Haobo scratched his head. “I thought you wanted to learn now. So when do you want me to teach you?”

“What are your days off?”

“At fixed times on the weekends.”

Chen Yuchuan knew that chatting with Guang Haobo couldn’t be the same as others. He had to give him a specific time, or he would keep thinking about it.

He thought for a while and said, “I’ll wait for you to take a break from work on the weekend. Maybe in the afternoon, I’ll pick you up and you can come over to my house.”

Guang Haobo nodded after getting the specific time and said ok .

“I didn’t know you were so good at making coffee before,” Chen Yuchuan said.

Guang Haobo tugged at the black overalls shirt on his body, “Chu Rui likes to drink it. I’ve learned it over the past few years, and I’m pretty good at it now.”

“How much do they pay you?”

“5,000 during the trial period. After the three months probation, 6500. It’s okay. Since it’s just me, it’s enough.”

“Not enough, if you ask me.” Chen Yuchuan stood up. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”

After paying for his coffee, he took Guang Haobo to the hotel where Lu Yang was socializing, just as he was walking out the hotel door.

He honked the horn at him, and Lu Yang quickly approached the car.

When Lu Yang opened the door and was about to get into the passenger seat, Chen Yuchuan immediately smelled the scent of alcohol on him. Obviously, he had drunk a lot tonight.

He leaned over to sniff him and asked, “How much did you drink?”

“I couldn’t push it off tonight, so I drank a little more than usual.” After he finished speaking, and before Chen Yuchuan could withdraw, he pulled him closer and lowered his head to kiss him.

Remembering Guang Haobo in the back seat, Chen Yuchuan pushed Lu Yang away and coughed twice toward the back seat.

Lu Yang didn’t insist on continuing to kiss Chen Yuchuan. After being interrupted, he looked back and saw Guang Haobo in the back seat. His expression became a little heavy.

When he saw that Lu Yang had seen him, Guang Haobo moved his body to the car window and greeted Lu Yang. “Big Brother Yang…”

Chen Yuchuan took Lu Yang’s arm and made him sit down, whispering, “Don’t be so fierce.”

“Am I fierce?” Lu Yang’s voice was a little heavy.

“Not fierce, not fierce.” Chen Yuchuan knew that Lu Yang had drunk too much, and so he had to follow along, or else he would suffer in bed at home later on. “Not at all fierce. Very gentle, especially gentle.”

He took out a bottle of yogurt from the pocket of his jacket, unscrewed the cap, and gave it to Lu Yang. “Drink some. I’ll take Haobo home first, and then we can go home.”

Lu Yang took the yogurt bottle and took a few sips.

When Chen Yuchuan got Guang Haobo home, he didn’t wait for a second. He immediately opened the door, got out, waved to them, and ran upstairs.

“Running so fast.” Chen Yuchuan muttered to the stairs where no one could be seen.

But not in a hurry to light the fire, he noticed that Lu Yang’s face was still heavy, so he unfastened his seat belt, put one hand on Lu Yang’s neck, and made up for the kiss earlier. Afterward, Lu Yang’s expression became much better.

When both of them were beginning to react to the kiss, Chen Yuchuan pushed Lu Yang away. Licking his lip, he said, “Our home is still a 40 minutes drive away.”

Lu Yang reluctantly let go. “Drive.”

The moment they got home, Lu Yang directly took Chen Yuchuan to the bathroom. Chubby scratched to the bathroom door for a long time, listening to the sounds coming from within. After more than an hour, his mother and father finally came out of the bathroom.

His father was leaning against his mother, his body trembling a little. After seeing him, he opened his mouth and called out, “Chubby.”

Chubby finally succeeded in getting out of his parent’s bedroom and barked a few times. After a while, Lu Yang came out of the bedroom to play with him.

The next morning, Chen Yu woke up very late, and the only reason he woke up was because Lu Yang was getting up to make breakfast.

He stayed in bed for a while, but didn’t fall asleep. The bedroom door was open, and so he listened to the sound of Lu Yang’s footsteps walking around the living room. Such a morning seemed so normal, and he couldn’t help smiling. It wasn’t until Lu Yang came to tell him to get up, did he finally get up.

He took a shower first, and then with no shirt on, he put one hand on his hip and held a toothbrush in his other hand, looking at the red marks on his neck and chest in the bathroom mirror.

After staring at the mirror for a long time, Chen Yuchuan’s eyes flickered for a moment, and the mirror seemed to reflect a few scenes from the bathroom last night…

Lu Yang was behind him, pressing him up against the mirror, and the cold countertop grew warm from his breath. Lu Yang held his chin up, forcing him to keep his eyes on their reflections in the mirror.

A few damp water droplets dripped down the hair of the person in the mirror…

Chen Yuchuan blinked. His hand holding the toothbrush trembled, and the toothbrush fell to the ground. Chubby ran in through the open bathroom door and immediately grabbed the toothbrush with his mouth.

Chen Yuchuan sucked in a breath, lowered his head, and rubbed Chubby’s neck. “Why are you holding my toothbrush?”

He took the toothbrush out of Chubby’s mouth, threw it into the trash can, turned his head and shouted out the door, “Yang ge, where is the new toothbrush?”

He shouted once and no one answered. The kitchen door was closed, so Lu Yang probably didn’t hear him

He took two steps out. Holding the door frame with one hand, he stretched his neck and shouted again, “Lu Yang, where is the new toothbrush?”

Lu Yang opened the kitchen door and replied, “In the drawer of the next cabinet. Look for it there.”

“Got it.”

Chen Yuchuan went into the bathroom again, looked in the cabinet, and sure enough there was a new spare toothbrush there.

He seemed to have become lazy again. He could have spent more time looking, but he still preferred to ask Lu Yang instead.

After brushing his teeth, he bared his teeth in front of the mirror and smiled. His teeth had been well protected over the years. They had no cavities and were very white. They looked good whenever he smiled widely. This was what Lu Yang had told him.

After washing up, he entered the kitchen. Lu Yang had already made breakfast, and there were two bowls of steaming chicken noodle soup on the dining table, with a boiled white poached egg sitting on top of each. The aroma immediately hooked Chen Yuchuan’s nose and stomach.

Lu Yang poured dog food for Chubby first. Chubby wagged his tail and turned to eat the dog food in his own bowl.

Chen Yuchuan ate a few mouthfuls of the noodles, then picked up the bowl and took a sip of soup. When he finally put down the bowl, he told Lu Yang, who was sitting across from him, “Lu Yang, the soup is delicious and fresh, but the noodles are a bit bland.”

Lu Yang had just sat down after washing his hands. When he heard this, he picked up a few mouthfuls of noodles with his chopsticks and took a bite. After a while, he raised his eyebrows and said a little unhappily, “It’s not bland. It’s just right.”

“Lu Yang, I’m not making it up,” Chen Yuchuan said. “It really is a little bland.”

Lu Yang took another bite of the noodles. This time, he didn’t say anything about whether the noodles were salty enough. He said, “Now that you have a marriage certificate, you’ve changed your mouth. Before the certificate, I was Yang ge, Yang ge everyday, but once you got the certificate, I became Lu Yang…”

Unable to hold back his laughter, Chen Yuchuan called Yang ge, Yang ge several times.

He pushed his bowl of noodles next to Lu Yang and dragged a chair over to sit beside him.

Then he picked up his bowl of noodles, grabbed his chopsticks, and brought some noodles up to Lu Yang’s mouth. “If you don’t believe me, try it. It really is bland. I didn’t lie to you.”

Lu Yang opened his mouth and ate the noodles. Chen Yuchuan waited until he swallowed before asking, “Is it bland? Is it bland?”

After swallowing, Lu Yang spoke in a much better tone. “It does seem a little…”

Chen Yuchuan fed Lu Yang another bite.

Chubby, who had now finished his dog food, ran to the dining table and watched his father feeding his mother noodles…