WBAI Chapter 36

Xie An’yu’s fifth call to Jiang Ting was finally answered. He stood up with his phone in hand and glanced back, intending to say goodbye to Yu Feng before leaving, but the photoshoot had already begun in the studio.

Yu Feng was completely different when immersed in work compared to his usual laid-back demeanor—his gaze was focused, even his expression somewhat serious.

Xie An’yu stared at Yu Feng for a few seconds before quietly exiting with his phone.

“An’yu?” Jiang Ting sounded breathless on the other end. “I’ll be there in three minutes! Got held up earlier—sorry about that.”

Jiang Ting arrived quickly, accompanied by a photography assistant she’d borrowed from another good friend who was a photographer.

Xie An’yu sent Yu Feng a quick WeChat message before following Jiang Ting to another studio. This one was far more modest than the last one—small in scale with just a white backdrop.

The photography assistant gave Xie An’yu some pointers on posing for print modeling. He also brought his laptop to show Xie An’yu some sample shots.

Actually, after the annual audition month, 《Charm》 would gather all the newly signed models for professional training. This was a company policy, and it didn’t matter if these new models had prior experience; they all had to participate in the training.

Had Xie An’yu been recruited through normal channels, he would also have attended this training. But since Xie An’yu was a temporary hire under special circumstances, they had to streamline the process.

The morning passed in a flash, and they still had to continue in the afternoon. Jiang Ting handed Xie An’yu her meal card and told him he could go to the company cafeteria for lunch.

“I have to go out for a bit at noon. The company cafeteria is on the first floor. You can eat there—I’ll give you my meal card. You can just use it to pay.”

“Does the cafeteria accept mobile payments?”

“Of course, you can, but you’ll need to swipe a meal card to get in. You can use mine.”

***

Tang Shu’s professionalism was top-notch. She finished the morning’s photo shoot with extremely high efficiency, which was why she was so expensive and why most magazines couldn’t afford her. Since they were finishing early, they didn’t have to order lunch boxes, and the staff on set were all overjoyed.

Jiang Xiaotian had already packed up the photography equipment and left. He was in a hurry to get food and disappeared as soon as the shoot wrapped.

Yu Feng and Tang Shu walked into the elevator together. Tang Shu invited him to join her meal, but Yu Feng declined. “I won’t intrude on your two-person world. I’ll eat at the company cafeteria.”

“Please, whether you’re there or not won’t interrupt our two-person world.” Tang Shu smirked, “When have I ever cared about what others think?”

“I’m out,” Yu Feng said, waving and walking out of the elevator.

***

The 《Charm》 employee cafeteria was surprisingly high-end, so much so that it shocked Xie An’yu. There was Chinese food, Western food, desserts, coffee… almost everything. The variety of dishes was impressive, but the prices were not very friendly.

As soon as he entered the cafeteria, Xie An’yu pulled a baseball cap from his bag and put it on. He also put on a mask. There was no other reason; there were simply too many people, and his social anxiety was acting up.

Xie An’yu, carrying a backpack, wearing a black face mask and a baseball cap, ironically made him the most conspicuous person in the cafeteria. From a distance, he looked like a suspicious character. If not for his upright posture and innate handsome aura, the company’s security guard would have likely approached him to inquire about his identity.

Xie An’yu looked around and realized there was nothing particularly cheap to eat. He considered eating outside, but then figured the prices wouldn’t be much cheaper outside. After all, this was the city center—everything was bound to be expensive.

“Xie An’yu?”

A familiar voice came from behind him. Xie An’yu turned to look.

“It really is you,” Jiang Xiaotian said, walking towards him with a tray in hand. “Why are you all covered up like this? I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Xie An’yu thought to himself, Even with all this covering, you still managed to spot me. That’s impressive.

Recalling how reserved and aloof Xie An’yu had been during their first meeting, Jiang Xiaotian suddenly understood why he was dressed like this. He chuckled and said, “Dressing like this only makes people notice you more. How do you think I spotted you?”

Xie An’yu subtly glanced around and realized many people were indeed sneaking glances at him.

“Did you see me in the studio earlier? I was there too.”

Xie An’yu nodded.

“Come on, let’s sit together,” Jiang Xiaotian said. “What are you eating?”

“Big Brother Jiang, is there anything a bit cheaper here?” Xie An’yu asked him.

“Yes, there is. Follow me, I’ll show you.”

Jiang Xiaotian led Xie An’yu to a ramen stall.

“This place has really good ramen, and it’s cheap. I eat here all the time. Take a look first—I’ll go grab us a seat.”

Jiang Xiaotian found an empty table and set his tray down.

Xie An’yu rarely checked his phone because hardly anyone contacted him online. Even when it vibrated in his pocket, he usually ignored it, assuming it was just app notifications. Because of this, he hadn’t replied to the message Yu Feng had sent him.

Just as Xie An’yu sat down, Yu Feng called. The phone kept vibrating persistently—this was the only time Xie An’yu would actually take it out to check.

“Brother?”

“Did you go back?”

“No, I’m eating in the employee cafeteria.”

Yu Feng gave a quiet hum. “Got it.”

Xie An’yu hung up the phone and took off his mask, preparing to eat. Halfway through his meal, Xie An’yu lowered his head and asked Jiang Xiaotian, “Big Brother Jiang, do you know Editor Jiang Ting?”

Jiang Xiaotian paused, chopsticks in hand. He smiled a bit helplessly. “I always thought I was keeping things under wraps, but it turns out I’ve been running around naked in your eyes this whole time?”

Since the cat was already out of the bag with Yu Feng, there was no point in hiding it from Xie An’yu either. Jiang Xiaotian admitted frankly, “We do know each other. How did you figure it out? Did you guess, too?”

Truthfully, Xie An’yu had already started suspecting this when he ran into Yu Feng earlier that morning. Every part of this situation felt too coincidental—how was it that just a few days after he worked as a temporary model for a clothing store, someone else offered him an opportunity a few days later, and that person just happened to work at the same company as Yu Feng?

Xie An’yu nodded. “You two share the same surname, Jiang. I guessed you might be related.”

“Damn,” Jiang Xiaotian laughed. “How is it that your thought process is exactly the same as your brother’s?”

Xie An’yu paused for a moment. “Which brother?”

“Your Brother Yu, of course,” Jiang Xiaotian said. “My middleman disguise didn’t even last a full day before getting completely blown to bits. Your minds work way too fast.”

While chatting, Jiang Xiaotian looked up and spotted Yu Feng weaving through the crowd.

“Hey!” Jiang Xiaotian waved at Yu Feng. “Brother, over here!”

Yu Feng glanced in their direction, and Xie An’yu turned his head, meeting his gaze.

Yu Feng walked over with his tray, looked at Xie An’yu, and said, “Why are you still carrying your backpack while eating?”

Both Jiang Xiaotian and Xie An’yu scooted inward to make room for Yu Feng.

“Don’t move. I’ll sit here,” Yu Feng said to Jiang Xiaotian before settling beside Xie An’yu.

Xie An’yu had just finished a steaming bowl of ramen, beads of sweat trickling down his temples. Yu Feng had bought a cold noodle dish[mfn]冷面 (lěng miàn): Cold noodles are dishes typically made out of noodles, soy sauce, cucumber, and various other ingredients. They are commonly served at room temperature with a dipping sauce on the side. Morioka reimen (Japanese: 盛岡冷麵) is a local dish of Morioka, Iwate Prefecture. It is a cold noodle dish and one of the three great noodles of Morioka, along with Morioka jajamen and Wanko soba. It is known for its chewy noodles, rich chilled broth, and toppings of kimchi. It is based on the Korean dish naengmyeon.
[/mfn] with a few slices of watermelon floating in the broth. Xie An’yu looked a little surprised. “They put watermelon in this?”

“Want to try it?” Yu Feng asked, looking at him. “I haven’t touched it yet. The noodles are cold—good for beating the heat.”

Jiang Xiaotian shot Yu Feng a glance, thinking, Is this really something my boss would actually say? Feels kinda weird.

Then Yu Feng added, “You can have this bowl. I’ll order another one.”

Jiang Xiaotian chuckled. “He’s almost done with that huge bowl of ramen. You trying to burst his stomach, Brother?”

“He’ll be fine,” Yu Feng said. “His stomach has a blender in it.”

“What?” Jiang Xiaotian looked at Xie An’yu, barely holding back laughter. “A blender?”

Xie An’yu rubbed his neck, quietly slurped some noodle soup, and said in a low voice, “The blender is out of battery today.”

Mainly, Xie An’yu still to try on clothes and take pictures that afternoon, and he didn’t want to overeat and risk bloating—too much food would make his stomach protrude.

Yu Feng laughed. “I thought your blender ran on perpetual motion. Guess I’ll eat this, then?”

Xie An’yu gave a quiet ‘Mm’.

It was the first time Jiang Xiaotian had ever seen Yu Feng joke around with someone like this. Who knew his boss could be so playful?

Almost everyone in the company knew Yu Feng, and with him sitting with Xie An’yu and Jiang Xiaotian, their table drew more than a few glances.

Yu Feng asked Xie An’yu, “What did Jiang Ting have you do in the studio? It’s not for a photoshoot today, is it?”

“Not today. Just some preliminary training.”

“Still going this afternoon?”

“Mm.”

At the mention of Jiang Ting, Jiang Xiaotian automatically went silent, quietly eating his meal and trying to minimize his presence.

Xie An’yu ate fast. By the time he finished, Jiang Xiaotian was only halfway through his meal.

“I’ll head back first,” Xie An’yu said, standing up.

“Did she say when you’d wrap up this afternoon?”

“Five o’clock.”

Yu Feng nodded.

“Damn, training till five?” Jiang Xiaotian couldn’t help but interject. “You’re not even officially working yet. I’ll give her an earful—this is exploitation.”

“She said it’s a crash course,” Xie An’yu said, squeezing out from behind Yu Feng with his noodle bowl, then waving goodbye to both Yu Feng and Jiang Xiaotian.

“I’m heading out, Brother,” Xie An’yu said to Yu Feng while putting on his mask with one hand.
Yu Feng looked up at him.

With half his face covered, Xie An’yu met Yu Feng’s eyes and said, “Gonna recharge the blender now.”

Yu Feng was stunned for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.

***

Thanks to Tang Shu and Yu Feng’s seamless teamwork, they’d wrapped up the day’s shoot by noon. Yu Feng had nothing else scheduled for the afternoon—his work was flexible like that. Once shooting wrapped, the rest of the time was his own.

Yu Feng spent the afternoon at the city library, finishing a book in one sitting. He was a fast reader, able to complete a hundred-thousand-word novella in just a few hours.

While browsing the shelves, he came across a photography collection—one he’d already seen during his university days, borrowed from the school library. Seeing it again now unexpectedly brought back a flood of old memories.

After returning the book he had finished, Yu Feng checked out the photography collection and headed back to the office. He wasn’t carrying a bag, so he held the book in his hand as he took the elevator up to the third floor, walking in the direction of the studio Xie An’yu had mentioned.

Yu Feng leaned against the wall outside the studio, book in hand, and waited. At exactly five o’clock, the photography assistant burst out from inside, sprinting like a Husky off its leash.

The assistant saw Yu Feng and immediately stopped in his tracks. “Teacher Yu?”

Yu Feng gave a slight nod. “Off work?”

“Yeah,” the assistant replied with a smile. “What are you doing here? Is there still a shoot scheduled this late?”

“I’m waiting for someone,” Yu Feng said.

“Ah?” The assistant glanced back into the studio, where Xie An’yu was the only one left. “You’re waiting for… the new model?”

Yu Feng nodded.

The photography assistant didn’t pry any further. He said goodbye to Yu Feng and dashed off.

Not long after, Xie An’yu emerged, still in full gear—mask and hat tightly covering his face.

When he saw Yu Feng, his eyes, visible under the brim of his cap brightened slightly. “Brother Yu.”

“Let’s go,” Yu Feng said. “We’ll head back together.”

“Are you off work?” Xie An’yu walked up beside him and fell into step beside him.

Yu Feng hummed in agreement.

Xie An’yu lowered his gaze and saw the book in Yu Feng’s hand. The title on the cover read, ‘China Yesterday[mfn]昨天的中國 (zuó tiān de zhōng guó): This book is based on the large photography collection “China” by Yann Layma, supplemented with some un-published photos. It shows the peoples daily life, the development of economy and the huge change of society of China during the year 1985 to 2000.
[/mfn]’.

The office was flooded with people at the end of the workday, and the elevator was packed. Since Yu Feng’s car was parked in the underground garage, they had no choice but to wait for an elevator. Yu Feng and Xie An’yu waited for two full elevators to pass, but the crowd didn’t seem to thin out at all. Finally, they had no choice but to squeeze into the next one.

Yu Feng turned slightly, shielding Xie An’yu in the corner. He knew Xie An’yu struggled with social anxiety—being trapped in a crowded, enclosed space was probably torture for him.

Yu Feng stood facing Xie An’yu, holding the book in one hand, his body angled slightly to create a buffer. The elevator was so crowded that they were practically pressed against each other. Xie An’yu was a bit shorter than Yu Feng, and when he lowered his head, the tip of his nose accidentally brushed against Yu Feng’s shoulder, his breath brushing against Yu Feng’s ear.

Xie An’yu was wearing a black baseball cap, and his expression was hidden by the brim, but his ears turned an unmistakable shade of red.

He had probably never been in such close proximity to anyone before.

Yu Feng was the one suffering, though—his ears were tingling from just those few breaths.

Xie An’yu carried the faint scent of soap, a familiar fragrance that inexplicably made Yu Feng’s throat tighten. He mocked himself inwardly—had he been single for too long?

Even the smell of soap was enough to flood his mind with indecent thoughts.

[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 36″]
漫不經心 (màn bù jīng xīn): be careless (about); be casual; be negligent; indifferent; absent-minded. It means that a person does things carelessly and does not take them seriously.
[/dropdown]

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