Translator: AlfredoPoutineSoup  Editor: DesTheSloth
âSlow down, donât choke.â
On one of the beds in a normal ward, Jin Ziyao gently reminded Hong Guan⦠He ate too fast, just as if he was inhaling the food.
âItâs all right! I must hurry up or I will be late to work. â Hong Guan drank a mouth of water and said with a smile.
Jin Ziyao said with love, âYou donât have to come here at noon, you will be tired.â
Hong Guan happily said, âWhere I work with is all males, they are not as beautiful as you.â
âDonât be saucy!â Jin Ziyao rolled eyes, but obviously she couldnât hide the joy in her heart. âLet me peel some grapefruit for you, you can eat it on the way.â
Hong Guan then received a phone call at that moment. He walked out of the ward as to not disturb others. Not long later, he returned to Jin Zi Yao with a rather strange look on his face.
âWhatâs wrong?â Jin Yao asked curiously.
Hong Guan was stunned that he patted his face and looked at his wife, âSomeone just came to me and asked whether I would like to work in a TV station. And he asked me to have a meet this afternoon if I have timeâ¦â
âAh?â Jin Ziyao was also surprised by this news.
â¦
Unlike the wandering life in Beijing, where people could find a lot of opportunities, the entry threshold was relatively high for some local television stations.
At least, Hong Guan had never been to this cityâs television stationsâ of course, as one of the landmarks, he knew where it was.
To Hong Guanâs surprise, it seemed that he was the only one here to attend the so-called interviewâ why he came here was because he wanted to know what was happening.
âAre you Mr. Hong Guan?â
In a small office, Hong Guan met the man who phoned himâ Mr. Yi.
Of course, besides Mr. Yi, Hung Guan also saw Li Zifeng whom he had met before⦠He suddenly knew why he received the call.
Then things became very simple. Mr. Yi asked him whether he would like to work in this TV station, and it was an agreement for contract workers instead of a regular full-time employee âNaturally the treatment would also be different⦠but it was better than his job at a garage.
âMr. Hong, is there any problem with this temporary contract?â
Hong Guan knew it was a good opportunity.
Many people would beat down the door to work here even if the wage was low. This was because working here would gain an opportunity to open another door in the future.
âWell⦠Can I think about it?â Hong Guan hesitated for a long time before he said the unexpected words to Li Zifeng and Mr. Yi.
Mr. Yi looked at Li Zifeng⦠Obviously he wanted to see how he would deal with this situation.
Before this, he just did Li Zifeng a favor, as for Hong Guan accepted it or not, it was not his business. After all, he had already shown his handâ Accepting it or not was someone elseâs choice.
âWell, will you talk about it first?â Mr. Yi laughed and said, âI want to go to the washroom.â
Then Mr. Yi leisurely went out, leaving Li Zifeng and Hong Guan here.
Both of them were silent. Li Zifeng suddenly said with a smile, âMr. Hong, is it because itâs so sudden that you are shocked?â
âNo⦠No. Well, Yes.â Hong Guan said, âIâm really shocked⦠Mr. Li, why did you help me?â
âTo be honest, I am doing this for Yiran.â Li Zifeng smiled, âYou know, our company values him a lot. Even for his small requests, we will certainly try our best to meet it.â
âSoâ¦â Hong Guan was stunned, âYou mean⦠this was his idea? â
Li Zifeng suddenly said, âThink of this as my idea, OK? Mr. Hong, I heard from Yiran that you have some financial difficulties, so I think this job may help you.â
Hung Guan frowned, âWhy didnât he tell me in person?â
âMr. Hong, you know Yiran is very busy now.â
Li Zifeng still smiled, âIn addition, if you donât mind, I hope that you will not seek him on your own⦠After all, I donât want him to be distracted for a while. You know, the beginning is very important for a newbie. The paparazzi are particularly wild about trailing newbies, especially the negative things, and they will fight for them. I donât want Yiran to be harassed at the very beginning, I hope he will have a quiet environment.â
âWhat⦠what do you mean?â Hong Guanâs look became heavy. âWhatâs negative?â
âMr. Hong, donât get me wrong.â
Li Zifeng sternly said, âThis is our companyâs plan⦠We want him to show an image of him working hard and never giving up for his dream, to show a self-improvement image⦠Therefore, some things, please try not to let the public know.â
âI donât understand what you want to say.â Hong Guan frowned.
Li Zifeng suddenly moved his chair and whispered to Hong Guan, âMr. Hong, I know you guys formed a band and you floated around in Beijing for a while.â
Li Zifeng paused, then he rubbed his hands and said, âYoung men are not mature enough and always do things impulsively. But itâs not a big deal.â
âStop beating around the bush!â Hong Guan sternly said.
Li Zifeng sighed, âWell, Iâll get straight to it. Mr. Hong, I will tell you the truth. Iâve checked your background, and found something⦠You, Yiran, and another member of your band were involved in a crime and⦠went into the detention center, right? â
Hong Guanâs face suddenly turned bad.
This was the thing that they never wanted to mention and this was the thing that they couldnât forget and let go.
Hong Guan didnât speak for a long time. And it was impossible for Mr. Yi to go to the washroom for so long⦠He probably was just waiting for a result outside.
â¦
But on the other hand, didnât this prove that Li Zifeng was very capable?
âMr. Liâ¦â Hong Guan suddenly took a deep breath. âCan you honestly tell me. Is this your will or Yiranâs?â
Li Zifeng said, âThat is not important, Mr. Hong. The main point is that we will not treat you badly. You see, this job is just the beginning. In the future, you still have the chance to gain more formal preparations. By the wayâ¦â
Li Zifeng took out a check from his suit and put it on the table, calmly saying, âYiran asked me to give you this. He said your wife is going to have a baby and you need the money.â
A one hundred thousand cheque.
âWhy didnât he give it to me personally?â Hong Guan didnât move, but looked straight at Li Zifeng with a frightening look.
âIâve said heâs really busy right now. He has a very busy schedule and doesnât even have enough time to rest.â
Hong Guan bit his teeth, âOK, I understand!â
â¦
â¦
âOne hundred thousand? You really didnât take it? Are you stupid? And what about the work in the TV station? Why didnât you agree?â In the garage, a man sat near Hong Guan⦠Strictly speaking, he was the boss of the garageâ Hong Zhongshun.
Actually, he was a fellow-townsman of Hong Guan.
Before Hong Guan came to Beijing, he had worked with Hong Zhongshun in the garage. It can be said that the boss was like a relative among his few friends.
âUncle, you helped me when I was in trouble.â Hong Guan shook his head and said, âAnd New Year is coming, youâre short of people. How can I go at this time?â
Hong Zhongshun shook his head and sighed, âHow stupid you are! I know why your so-called brother could go up and become famous, but youâre still here! Because youâre not heartless!â
âUncle!â Hong Guan frowned.
Hong Zhongshun suddenly patted Hong Guanâs shoulder and said, âBut itâs good that you are not the same as your brother, pretending not to know old friends when become famous! Bah, what the f*ck, heâs the slave of money!â
âDonât mention it, uncle.â Hong Guan shook his head. âDonât mention it. I want to quiet down.â
Hong Zhongshun did not say anything else but patted Hong Guanâs shoulder and said, âGet off early today, go to the hospital to accompany your wife.â
â¦
â¦
â⦠What are you caring about? In fact, nothing could separate; donât try to delay the problem in your relationshipâ¦â
Hong Guanâs eyes were not focused but years of experience made him play and sing completely even when he was absent-mindedâ and at the same time, he didnât care about the people who stood in front of his stall.
But he finally saw a rather familiar person.
During this period, Hong Guan found that every time when he was singing here, a young man would comeâthe first time he was alone, and the second day he came with a very beautiful girl.
The young man and girl really matched each other⦠This was the feeling of Hong Guan.
They always came but no one knew the time they came. They just quietly listened to him. Hong Guan felt time seemed to be stopped because of their coming.
It was not his time that stopped, but their time stopped.
Although the feeling was very subtle, but to be honest, Hong Guan was very happy that the young man cameâbecause he could get the young manâs reward every day.
There were several times that Hong Guan wanted to thank him, but he always inadvertently lost trace of the young man and girl.
Today, Hong Guan found that he didnât receive any reward⦠because the young man just came with his maid and disappeared into the square quickly.
It seemed like they never stopped by⦠just like other passers-bys.
Hung Guan tidied up his small booth with a complicated look.
Today, he gained nothing.