Chapter 29: 29

It wasn’t until they were on the school bus returning to school that Shen Shao took out the chocolates from Gu NingZhao and shared them with everyone.

When he got back to his dorm room, he noticed there were some new small appliances. Despite the fact they’d been away for two weeks, there wasn’t any dust. Everything was spotless.

“You’re back?” Gu NingZhao walked through the door holding a canned drink. When he saw that Shen Shao had sweat on his face, he opened the can and handed it to Shen Shao. “Have something to drink.”

“Thanks.” Shen Shao took a sip and saw Gu NingZhao bend down to operate the water dispenser. “Are you the one who installed the water dispenser?”

Gu NingZhao nodded. He went over and picked out some books from the small bookshelf under his loft bed. He set them on the desk in front of Shen Shao. “For you,” he said with a casual expression.

A little puzzled, Shen Shao picked up the two books. They were both about electronics and technology and seemed to be printed with high quality paper. He looked up and saw that Gu NingZhao was in front of his computer and wasn’t looking at him. Shen Shao found a place for the books on his shelf and thanked Gu NingZhao.

Gu NingZhao nodded without looking at him. He was studying a series of wavy graph lines on his computer.

Shen Shao gave the graph a closer look. Was Gu NingZhao looking at stocks? Shen Shao considered his own desk, which was relatively empty. He needed to buy a computer too. Computer specs weren’t as good as they would be in the future, but he couldn’t hold off on buying one just because everything would be faster eventually.

Besides, he was a student studying IT. If he didn’t have his own computer it would look like he didn’t care about studying.

Not long after, Wang Hao and Xiong Gang also returned. They saw that Shen Shao didn’t have much of a tan and felt jealous. Wang Hao grabbed a glass of cold mineral water and took a deep swallow, then sighed. “It turns out that even ultraviolet rays are merciful to attractive people.”

“No worries. When God closes a door, a window opens somewhere else.”

“What kind of window?”

“Maybe you’ll meet a girl with abnormal taste in guys?”

Wang Hao: “…”

It was too hard to make friends with a smart aleck like Shen Shao.

After military training, everyone quickly became busy. Before they’d even settled in to college life, it was already National Day. Wang Hao and Gu NingZhao were both going to spend the holiday at home. Xiong Gang decided to go to his aunt’s house, leaving Shen Shao alone in the dorm.

Wang Hao invited Shen Shao to join him, but Shen Shao declined. He was planning to use his free time during the holiday to buy a good computer and evaluate business opportunities.

On National Day, Shen Shao went to the local computer market to buy a computer. He plugged in the network cable when he got back. Network speeds were relatively slow, and there wasn’t as much information available online as there would be ten years later. Still, there were already entrepreneurs who were laser-focused on the Internet sector.

During this period there were several well-known Internet portals in China. Some of these sites would fail after a few years, but others would forge a new trail and become famous throughout the country.

Shen Shao considered going into this line of business. At the moment he had several million in assets. Although it wasn’t that much in terms of capital, another founder of an Internet portal had barely one-tenth Shen Shao’s current assets when he set up his website. Later that person became one of the one hundred richest people in China.

Clearly the most crucial thing about launching a business wasn’t a lack of money, it was a lack of opportunities and contacts.

After thinking it over, Shen Shao made a tentative plan. He also considered going into food and electronic manufacturing. In the end he decided to figure out how to get another sum of money first.

What was the fastest way to get money right now without breaking the law?

Shen Shao thought about it for a while. There was only one way to go: invest in stocks. But right now was a weak period for the Chinese stock market, and it wasn’t something he focused on in his last life. The most he remembered was overhearing the French chef where he worked occasionally say things in clumsy Chinese about playing the market.

The year 2002 happened too long ago and his memories weren’t clear. The main thing he recalled was that the French chef lost his shirt speculating in stocks and sighed with regret about not buying shares in a certain company.

But he couldn’t remember the company’s name….

The next day, Shen Shao went to a stock trading center downtown. He looked up at the display screen in the lobby with the list of ticker symbols mostly in red, hesitating whether to gamble.

As he stood there, he saw a woman bawling and pulling at a man’s arm while other people stared at the electronic board with bloodshot eyes, as if they couldn’t believe the stocks that rose yesterday were plummeting today.

In the end he bought some shares. After spending all of last night carefully searching his memories, he recalled that the French chef seemed to have said the share price of a little-known company rose nearly ten times in just two weeks and plunged to the bottom a few days later. That was the company whose shares he bought, assuming he remembered correctly.

Shen Shao suspected that some kind of illicit manipulation was behind this stock’s movements, so he didn’t buy too many shares. If the stock rose as he hoped, he could invest more money.

A couple of days later, the stock began to rise, but perhaps to avoid attracting suspicion, the increase wasn’t too dramatic. When Shen Shao saw this, he took the opportunity to buy a lot more.

During the next few days the stock soared like crazy, attracting a lot of attention.

At that point Shen Shao stopped paying attention to the stock market. The National Day holiday ended and he returned to school. On Thursday afternoon when he didn’t have class, he hurried back to the trading center. He wanted to sell his shares. By now they’d risen more than ten times in value.

After the stock soared so high, a lot of people piled in to buy it. Before Shen Shao left the exchange, he looked behind him at the crowd of speculators who were still going crazy. His hands were a little cold.

It was already dark by the time he got back to school. He opened the door to his dorm room and saw that the lights weren’t on. He was reaching for the switch when he heard Gu NingZhao’s voice.

“Where did you go this afternoon?”

“I went to trade stocks downtown.” Shen Shao didn’t bother to hide anything. As he spoke he turned on the light and saw a thermos on his desk. Surprised, he looked at Gu NingZhao. “Did your family send some food?”

“There were a lot of leftovers.” Gu NingZhao looked away, frowning slightly. “You want to trade stocks?”

Shen Shao opened the thermos. It was an insulated meal container with three layers including rice, vegetables, and soup. Everything looked pristine. This was what he called leftovers?

“Did you already eat?” Shen Shao thought there was too much food for one person.

“A little while ago… I’m not hungry.” Gu NingZhao turned away and looked out the window, as if it revealed a beautiful scene that attracted his full attention.

Shen Shao took out his own lunch box and divided half of the food. Then he dragged a chair to the table and said, “Let’s eat together. It’s not as fun to eat alone.”

Gu NingZhao sat down on the chair. His face wore an expression like, “Since you don’t want to eat alone, I’ll reluctantly accompany you”. He slowly and methodically moved his chopsticks.

“I sold my shares today.” After eating his fill, Shen Shao wiped his mouth. “The water in the stock market is too deep for me to play in.”

Gu NingZhao nodded. When Shen Shao got up to wash the thermos, he followed, silently watching Shen Shao roll up his sleeves to reveal his pale arms.

“If you have questions about stocks later, I can give you advice.” Gu NingZhao glanced at Shen Shao’s arms a few times before he hurriedly said this sentence. Then he turned away and sat down in front of his computer again.

When Shen Shao turned around and didn’t see him, he knew Gu NingZhao must have returned to his computer. He finished packing up the thermos and said, “OK, then since we’re so close, I’ll rely on you in the future.”

Gu NingZhao touched his reddish ears. The text on the computer screen had all turned into a meaningless jumble.

Although Gu NingZhao’s brain was filled with tiny dancing cartoon characters, his face… still had no expression at all.

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Wang Hao pushed open the door and scurried inside. Lately this was his usual way of returning to the dorm. “Xiao Shao, what are you going to rely on NingZhao for?” After taking one or two steps, he sniffed the air. “What were you guys secretly eating? It smells so good.”

“Since we ate it secretly, it has to be good, right? Who made you spend all day outside looking at cute girls?” Shen Shao walked to his desk and turned on the computer. “They say all the pretty girls are studying art and design. You have all the luck.”

“Hey now, even if that’s true, none of them like me. But some of them like the two of you.” Wang Hao sat down beside Shen Shao. “This afternoon some girls asked me about you and Gu NingZhao. They were cute, too. How about it? Are you interested?” 

After saying this, Wang Hao felt his scalp begin to tingle. He looked around and saw Gu NingZhao staring at him. Obviously the other student was just looking, but Wang Hao suddenly felt guilty for no reason. What was going on?

“What’s so great about it? If Gu NingZhao and I were closer to average, do you think they’d still be interested?” Shen Shao patted Wang Hao on the shoulder and said earnestly, “Men shouldn’t pay too much attention to looks. The most important thing is finding someone whose feelings are sincere. If the only reason they like someone is their face, it can’t possibly be true love.”

Wang Hao slapped away Shen Shao’s hand. A little sullen, he said, “A guy who’s eaten his fill doesn’t know what it’s like for those of us who are starving. I only wish I had a girl who likes me because of my looks. Sadly, that’ll never happen in this lifetime.”

“What are you so worried about? You have enough money to make up for everything.” Shen Shao shrugged. “You don’t care if they’re sincere, so what’s the difference between attracting them with your face and attracting them with your money?”

Wang Hao pondered this carefully for more than ten seconds then asked seriously, “Xiao Shao, why do I feel like you’re mocking me?”

“Oh, you noticed?” Shen Shao glanced at Wang Hao with amusement. “You already know you can’t trade money for true love. It’s the same with looks.”

After joking with Wang Hao enough, Shen Shao added mildly, “If I wanted to find a lover, I’d look for someone who can live with me and accept my strengths and weaknesses. That means my task right now is to make my strengths more obvious so my future lover will be proud of me. Don’t beat yourself up about something that’s so trivial. Your future wife is better than that, right?”

“So, what you’re saying is… hard work is what matters?” Wang Hao felt that Shen Shao was probably right, and he couldn’t argue.

“That’s another way to put it.” Shen Shao smiled and patted him on the shoulder again. “I believe you’ll find a woman who will love you and cooperate with you for a lifetime.”

“Yeah.” Wang Hao nodded solemnly. He felt more clear-headed now.

Gu NingZhao looked away without saying anything. He silently felt that all of Shen Shao’s criteria fit him perfectly.

“I’m going downstairs to buy something. Anyone want me to bring something back?” After nine o’clock at night, Shen Shao was hungry and wanted to buy a snack.

“Get me a piece of bread,” Wang Hao said, sticking his head out of the mosquito net over his bed. “The kind with lots of cream filling.”

Shen Shao looked at his increasingly rotund body and silently nodded.

“I’ll go with you.” Gu NingZhao, who was reading, put down his book and walked over to Shen Shao.

Shen Shao nodded. Since Xiong Gang didn’t want anything, he and Gu NingZhao left the dormitory together.

Most boys’ dorms were lively, and Hua U was no exception. Shen Shao looked at Gu NingZhao beside him and felt that he didn’t quite fit in with the high-spirited atmosphere. Whenever Gu NingZhao was around, the people and things around him seemed to blur automatically. When you glanced over, he was the only thing you noticed.

Outstanding looks, outstanding background, outstanding ability—in every way he was a winner. Maybe ten years from now he’d be at the top of the “Most Wished-For Husband” leaderboard.

Neither of them spoke along the way, but the atmosphere didn’t have a trace of awkwardness. After Shen Shao finished shopping, he saw that Gu NingZhao was still empty-handed. “You didn’t buy anything yet?”

Gu NingZhao casually took something from the shelf and handed it to the clerk, then took out a fifty yuan bill and waited for his change.

Shen Shao silently looked at the box of cutesy bear cookies. He didn’t think Gu NingZhao’s taste was… so distinctive.

They walked back with a handful of snacks. When they reached a tree-lined path, they heard a girl crying. There seemed to be a boy beside her who was saying something in an impatient voice.

Gu NingZhao’s face was expressionless. He was going to keep walking but Shen Shao stopped him. Gu NingZhao suddenly felt a warm breath in his ear—Shen Shao was whispering to him.

“Don’t go over there. It’ll be awkward if they see us. Let’s go that way.” Shen Shao pointed to the path beside them. He was about to pull Gu NingZhao that direction when he heard a loud smack. Someone was just slapped in the face.

“Scumbag! No wonder you never beat Gu NingZhao for first place all those years in high school. You deserve to be second place for ten thousand years! Jerk!”

The slap was too loud, and the insults were too enthusiastic. Shen Shao couldn’t pretend not to hear it.

Shen Shao looked at Gu NingZhao, who was still expressionless, then looked at the slightly dark tree-lined path. He hesitated whether to continue walking. If the boy fought back, that girl might be in trouble.

“Shen JiaYue, you actually hit me?!” The boy was obviously mad. Shen Shao couldn’t see his face, but he could tell from his voice how agitated and angry he was. After all, being slapped by a woman you weren’t supposed to hit back was upsetting.

However, the most important question was, who were these two people? Even when they were breaking up they had to fire shots at innocent bystander Gu NingZhao?

 

—

 

The author has something to say:

Second Young Master Gu: This tree-lined path is really nice. Why is that stupid X here? I just want to walk along this forested path with Xiao Shao. Why is that so hard?

Shen Shao: Poor little prince of getting shot while lying down…

 

TL Notes:

Shots fired at innocent bystander Second Young Master Gu – 躺枪 (short for 躺着也中枪) – internet slang: shot while lying down, unfairly targeted, collateral damage, wounded despite being innocent

computer market – 电脑城 – computer city – Usually this is a marketplace filled with rental booths where a variety of electronic items and components are for sale

ticker symbols mostly in red – 上大多一路飘红的股票 – In parts of Asia including China, red is a prosperous color and indicates a stock went up in value. MC might be looking at a chart from a Western stock market or maybe Hong Kong(?) where red means the value went down

 

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Shen JiaYue – 沈家悦

 

[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner ]

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