Chapter 4#
Chapter 4#
Once a person observes people and things with a preconceived notion, it’s easy to arrive at the desired conclusion under the psychological suggestion of prejudice.
Just as now, the more Zhang Xingchuan looked at Tan Xiao, the more he felt he was like a “little gay.”
Tan Xiao sat diligently at his workstation, with the white edge of his socks showing from under his jeans.
Zhang Xingchuan: Gay.
A female colleague brought Tan Xiao his takeout. When Tan Xiao thanked her, he sweetly said, “Thanks, sis.”
Zhang Xingchuan: Gay.
The indoor heating was too dry. Tan Xiao used his phone screen as a mirror to apply lip balm.
Zhang Xingchuan: Gay… no, wait.
This seemed a bit too stereotypical; it might not be accurate.
Zhang Xingchuan couldn’t be 100% sure he possessed the superpower of “gaydar.” Occasionally, when he had free time, observing Tan Xiao was just a little human observation game.
An intern’s sexual orientation, after all, had no direct bearing on the CEO.
Since Tan Xiao was willing to be a “salted fish,” then after the winter internship ended, he could just go back to school and be his “salted fish.”
Zhang Xingchuan felt a bit regretful that he couldn’t “nurture” the young colt he had taken a liking to.
The Spring Festival arrived, and his relationship with Tan, the “salted fish,” took an unexpected turn.
The cause was Miss Jiaxin, the CEO’s special assistant, who heard that Tan Xiao would be spending the New Year alone in his school dormitory.
“The CEO’s office is only off on New Year’s Eve and back to work on the third day of the New Year,” the special assistant, who was now very close to Tan Xiao, comforted him with a “stab-in-the-back” style, “As long as you can resume work on time, you only need to endure three days. Loneliness is really short; overtime is forever.”
Tan Xiao said, “Sister Jiaxin, your year-end bonus has finally arrived. Are you not even human anymore?”
Mentioning the generous year-end bonus, the special assistant beamed and further comforted Tan Xiao, saying, “You’re not the only one spending the New Year alone. The boss is also by himself.”
Tan Xiao said, “Does he have no one else in his family? What about his parents? Are they also gone?”
“No, no,” the special assistant was startled and said, “Don’t make that face. It’s not what you think. His parents immigrated to Australia and are living a very happy life there.”
Tan Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.
He had a very good impression of Zhang Xingchuan. The CEO was a very good person. All good people in the world should have a happy and fulfilling life.
Therefore, hearing that Zhang Xingchuan still had family, Tan Xiao also felt happy for him.
Tan Xiao’s mother was an ordinary person, a good person, and Tan Xiao had a decent relationship with her. These years, while he was studying in China, he always filled in her information for family contacts, which had caused her some unnecessary trouble.
She had been remarried for some years and had no more children. She and her husband lived a very sweet life as a couple, and Tan Xiao generally didn’t want to disturb their peaceful life.
Tan Xiao’s father had a new family two years ago. If he remembered correctly, this current wife was his third stepmother. He heard she was a very beautiful Latin American beauty queen. He hadn’t met her yet. He hadn’t returned to Europe in the past two years, and he wasn’t invited to that wedding.
He wasn’t willing to go home and play the role of a good heir, and his father certainly didn’t have time to play “kind father and filial son” with him.
Tan Yun, Tan Xiao’s sister, who was more than ten years older than him, was not from the same mother as Tan Xiao.
Tan Yun was more like a mother figure to him. When he was little, he would go home to live for a few months each year. Tutors taught him various skills and etiquette that heirs of wealthy families should master. Elders, including his father, rarely appeared. More often, it was Tan Yun who took on the task of disciplining him. Tan Yun was a very strict sister. Tan Xiao and she were not intimate, but based on blood, they still had a relatively strong bond and trust.
The premise was that Tan Xiao didn’t compete with her for the position of the first heir.
So no one should spend the New Year with Tan Xiao. His relatives all had their own lives and their own families.
Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve.
Tan Xiao passed by Zhang Xingchuan’s office door several times.
Zhang Xingchuan saw him walk over, then walk away, and after a while, walk over again, then away.
Finally, Zhang Xingchuan couldn’t bear it anymore and called him in: “Are you doing a ‘city walk’ outside my door?”
Since their “salted fish” conversation last time, Zhang Xingchuan hadn’t had a discussion with this unmotivated young colt, and Tan Xiao hadn’t actively come to him. They hadn’t spoken alone again.
Tan Xiao wasn’t shy; he just saw Zhang Xingchuan busy with work and wanted to wait for a time when he wasn’t busy.
Now that he was called in, Tan Xiao went straight to the point: “Does anyone have New Year’s Eve dinner with you tomorrow night? If not, do I have the honor of inviting you to join me?”
Zhang Xingchuan was very surprised, and also a little pleasantly surprised. He still had a mostly good impression of Tan Xiao. Such a smart, clever, and pleasing young man, acting as a mascot right in front of him, chatting a few words now and then, was helpful for the CEO to update his understanding of the post-00s generation, which was also very good.
It was just that because Tan Xiao chose to be a “salted fish,” unappreciative, and rejected the “nurturing plan,” the CEO felt a bit embarrassed and also frustrated that he couldn’t make him “iron into steel.” This also meant he didn’t have many good reasons to get close to Tan Xiao again.
Tan Xiao said, “My treat, as a thank you to Mr. Zhang for his… for his appreciation of me.”
When he said the words “appreciation,” he felt very strange inside.
Rationally, he knew that Zhang Xingchuan’s so-called “appreciation” of him was purely the CEO’s own wishful thinking.
Emotionally, he still liked Zhang Xingchuan as a person. The CEO was a very good person in all aspects, and it was very pleasant to get along with him.
For this reason, he didn’t want to spend New Year’s Eve alone. He wanted to find a dinner companion, and the single Zhang Xingchuan became his best choice.
Zhang Xingchuan had also heard a little from his special assistant about Tan Xiao spending the Spring Festival alone.
“Okay,” Zhang Xingchuan said. “Can you still book a restaurant now? I’ll book it. What kind of cuisine do you like?”
Booking at short notice, popular restaurants would be hard to get into. Zhang Xingchuan planned to use a bit of his “money power.”
Tan Xiao, however, said, “I’ve already booked it for 7 PM tomorrow night.”
Zhang Xingchuan didn’t ask where it was; even McDonald’s would be fine.
“It might be hard to get a taxi on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “I’ll pick you up from school tomorrow.”
Tan Xiao paused, then quickly said happily, “Perfect, otherwise I’d have to take the subway.”
On New Year’s Eve afternoon, the driver was on holiday, so Zhang Xingchuan drove himself to pick up Tan Xiao at the Tsinghua University gate.
After Tan Xiao got in the car, he navigated to the restaurant address.
This was their first private meeting alone. Zhang Xingchuan didn’t know what to say first. The friends he usually went out with were mostly old classmates of similar age, or two or three confidants he knew from work. The usual topics of conversation were adult pleasantries, asking about family recent events, discussing industry trends, occasionally having a few drinks, and then bragging after a few rounds.
But playing with a post-00s generation, this mode would be a bit too “old-fashioned.”
“Cold?” Zhang Xingchuan thought it best to maintain the persona of a friendly older brother. He said, “If needed, I can turn up the temperature.”
Tan Xiao said, “It’s fine. It’s quite warm today.”
This post-00s person was also a bit different from usual.
So Zhang Xingchuan realized that Tan Xiao also didn’t know what to talk about with him.
Zhang Xingchuan gestured for Tan Xiao to look at the back seat and said, “Your New Year’s gift.”
Tan Xiao looked and saw a large bag with a luxury brand logo printed on it. He asked, “What is it?”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “You can open it now and take a look.”
Tan Xiao took it and opened it. It was a men’s backpack, a classic style that was very suitable for students and new professionals, but it had a horse logo, a limited edition for the Year of the Horse.
Tan Xiao appropriately showed an expression of liking and said, “Thank you, President. It’s my zodiac year.”
“It’s my zodiac year too,” Zhang Xingchuan said. “Don’t be polite. It’s a return gift for you treating me to New Year’s Eve dinner.”
When they arrived at the restaurant, while parking, Zhang Xingchuan vaguely felt he had been to this place before.
The hostess asked for Tan Xiao’s reservation information, blinked quickly, and whispered into her mic, “Mr. Tan has arrived.”
A manager quickly came out from inside, led the two in, and with a beaming smile, invited them into a private room.
Zhang Xingchuan saw the exquisite embroidered magpies on the ancient-style sliding door and immediately remembered this place.
He asked Tan Xiao, “How long in advance did you book this table?”
This place was usually hard to book, and the dishes were also limited. It should be even harder to book on New Year’s Eve.
Tan Xiao said, “About three days.”
He had only booked this place when he decided to invite Zhang Xingchuan to spend New Year’s Eve together.
Zhang Xingchuan wondered, “Has business here gotten so bad?”
Tan Xiao: “…”
As a student, he certainly couldn’t mention things like using a black card to cut the line.
“I don’t know,” Tan Xiao said. “Maybe someone just canceled their reservation, and I got lucky.”
After his career took off, Zhang Xingchuan rarely had dinner with someone who wasn’t a business contact, with such a pure purpose, especially for a New Year’s Eve dinner, which held special significance.
The restaurant’s soundproofing was excellent, and the private room was extremely quiet. If the two didn’t speak, you could hear a pin drop.
Tan Xiao said, “I might have been a bit presumptuous inviting you to New Year’s Eve dinner.”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “How so?”
Tan Xiao sighed lightly and said, “Sister Jiaxin said you were also spending the New Year alone. I thought two people would be livelier than one.”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “It’s much better.”
Tan Xiao asked, “You don’t feel awkward, do you?”
Zhang Xingchuan countered, “You, are you not awkward?”
Both of them laughed.
Tan Xiao said, “This year, I originally thought about going to my mom’s place, but I didn’t want to bother her husband, so I finally gave up.”
Zhang Xingchuan nodded, indicating understanding.
Tan Xiao said, “Last year, I spent the New Year with a senior who also had nowhere to go. He graduated, so this year I don’t have a companion.”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “Am I not a companion?”
Tan Xiao said, “Yes, you’re even better than that senior as a companion. When I sat with him, we just stared at each other. I racked my brains to find topics, and he just focused on eating dumplings.”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “Is this ‘Dumpling Immortal’ mute?”
Tan Xiao burst out laughing.
This restaurant was hard to book, and the dishes matched the difficulty of booking—they were very delicious.
It seemed even more delicious than Zhang Xingchuan remembered.
“You’re so busy with work,” Tan Xiao asked proactively again, “I heard your parents are in Australia. Don’t they want to come back to spend the New Year with you?”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “They live far away. Occasional contact is fine, but frequent meetings aren’t good. My dad always argues with me every time we meet.”
Tan Xiao nodded: “I understand. It seems many Chinese families have this kind of father-son relationship. Maintaining distance is the only way to preserve the father-son bond. I don’t understand why.”
Zhang Xingchuan found his words strange and thought of a possibility. He said, “Is your father not Chinese? I mean your biological father.”
Tan Xiao thought for a moment and said, “He has multiple passports, was born in Italy, and later lived in Switzerland. I don’t know what nationality he is. He’s a quarter Chinese; his maternal grandmother was Chinese. According to him, she was a Qing Dynasty princess. Who knows if it’s true or false? Anyway, he often boasts about his noble lineage. If you ask me, he’s just a mixed-breed.”
Zhang Xingchuan was momentarily dumbfounded. Commenting on his father like this was quite absurd and also indicated that the father-son relationship was truly over.
Aside from his very fair skin and high nose, Tan Xiao didn’t have any obvious Caucasian features. The dominant genes of his great-grandmother and biological mother had completely won out. In terms of appearance alone, he had a very handsome Asian face.
Zhang Xingchuan guessed, “Did your mother meet him while studying abroad?”
“No, he came to China before, doing business in Shanghai,” Tan Xiao said. “He needed a local guide and translator. My mom was a German graduate student at Fudan University. Then they fell in love, had a flash marriage, and I was born quickly. While my mom was still in confinement, my dad fell in love with his newly hired female translator.”
Zhang Xingchuan commented, “So he’s a ’love expert’.”
Tan Xiao said, “He’s really good at falling in love. It’s said that every wife he’s had loved him to death and wanted to kill him when they broke up.”
“Is he still in China?” Zhang Xingchuan asked. “What line of work is he in?”
Tan Xiao said, “Transportation. He came to China to do cross-border logistics, but it didn’t go well, so he gave up halfway and went back. Now he’s semi-retired and doesn’t work much.”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “How old is he to be retired?”
“In his fifties, probably almost sixty. Before he met my mom, he had another marriage. I have a sister who is more than ten years older than me,” Tan Xiao said. “I barely contact my dad. He remarried several times after that. I also have a younger brother and two younger sisters, but I haven’t seen much of them.”
Zhang Xingchuan didn’t know what to say. Truly an “old European dude” who was hard to evaluate.