Before going to sleep every night, Bai Luo Yin would routinely browse through Beijing Haiyin High-Tech Company's official website for any new development in order to better understand Gu Hai's work. He noticed that recently the website had been updated rather frequently, which was probably because the company was preparing to go public. Hence, there was always a lot of information to be shown.
As usual, Bai Luo Yin entered the company's web page only to be greeted with an eye-grabbing headline.
"Tomorrow at 15:30, the ceremony for HaiYin High-Tech Ltd. Co. to go public will be held on the first floor of the company's exhibit hall."
That was fast. Bai Luo Yin couldn’t help but to sigh with sorrow. He then looked at the date, only to notice that twenty days had already passed by unknowingly. In spite of everything, he had not contacted Gu Hai in twenty days, and since the last time he had adamantly refused to see him, Gu Hai no longer showed up at the training ground. Even more so, it was impossible for Bai Luo Yin to go back to see him. Just like that, the two had been completely separated from each other for twenty days.
Since his company is about to get listed, he's probably extremely busy… Bai Luo Yin couldn’t help but to think to himself.
Another sleepless night. This time, Bai Luo Yin did not go out to train in the middle of the night but went for a stroll around the base alone instead. Aside from Zhou Ling Yun's room, all the lights in the other dorms were already off. For some unknown reason, Bai Luo Yin's footsteps walked in that direction involuntarily.
Being someone with exceptionally sharp ears, and adding on the fact that Bai Luo Yin's dorm was not that far from his, Zhou Ling Yun was able to quickly ascertain that Bai Luo Yin had already left his dorm. While Bai Luo Yin strolled around the base, Zhou Ling Yun was in his own dorm counting his footsteps. He had even surmised that within 1000 steps, he would most definitely reach his room. Sure enough, it was as he expected.
"Do you want me to arrange another training mission for you?" Zhou Ling Yun asked as he stood by the doorway.
Bai Luo Yin shook his head. "No, I just wanted to see why you aren't asleep yet."
"How come you're not sleeping?" Zhou Ling Yun questioned in return.
Hearing that, Bai Luo Yin only responded with two words, "Feeling bored."
In truth, both of Bai Luo Yin's arms ached so bad from the soreness and pain that he could barely grasp the doorknob.
After he stepped inside of Zhou Ling Yun's room, he casually opened a thick book —that he saw in front of the computer— and flipped through it. The content was a summary of a certain pilot's recent training progress. The record was thorough and detailed to the extreme, with many of the pages at the back containing the description of the person's physical condition and psychological analysis… all of which were handwritten. Bai Luo Yin had never seen Zhou Ling Yun bring a pen or paper with him to the training ground before, but it was clear as day that he was well aware of everyone’s conditions.
"Do you work overtime every night just to write these?" Bai Luo Yin asked.
As he washed his hands, Zhou Ling Yun only answered in a blasétone, "Just for the last two days. The military has been rushing me for these data, so I have to return to the base tomorrow to drop these off and report the recent training progress to the higher officials."
"Tomorrow…" Bai Luo Yin mulled over that. "You're going back to Beijing?
Without lifting his head, Zhou Ling Yun let out a 'yeah'.
Suddenly, an enormous surge of waves started to ripple out from within Bai Luo Yin’s heart. He stared attentively at Zhou Ling Yun for a long while, wearing an expression that said he had something to say but was hesitant to do so written all over his face.
"What is it? Is there something you want me to bring back for you?"
Bai Luo Yin shook his head again. "No."
"Go get some rest. After I leave tomorrow, I’m counting on you to look after everything here," Zhou Ling Yun said.
Complying to those clear words, Bai Luo Yin nodded and walked toward the door in silence. But, just as his hand touched the doorknob, his chest suddenly tightened. He turned around and looked at Zhou Ling Yun. "Commander, can I go back with you?"
"What is it? You can’t stay here any longer?" Zhou Ling Yun bantered. "It's only been how many days? The highlight of the training mission hasn't even started yet!"
"It’s not that." Bai Luo Yin held it inside for a long while, before he eventually couldn't bear it any more. "I want to go back to attend a ceremony."
"A ceremony?" Zhou Ling Yun's face was covered with curiosity. "Who is getting married?"
"No one is getting married, HaiYin Technology is going to be listed as a public company. Haven't we always been in collaboration with them on our projects? As a project leader, I should at least show up at tomorrow's ceremony!" Bai Luo Yin found himself the perfect excuse.
Zhou Ling Yun appeared to be rather dead set on making things difficult for Bai Luo Yin. "I will send someone over there to attend the ceremony in your place. Don’t worry, I will definitely give him enough honour. If that is not enough, there is no reason why I can't pay a visit personally."
As soon as he heard those words, Bai Luo Yin immediately declared his position. "Then, I have to go."
"What? Are you scared I will go there to cause trouble?"
Bai Luo Yin laughed 'he, he, he' mischievously.
For the past few days, Zhou Ling Yun's character had been surprisingly good. Who knew which of his nerves were connected incorrectly as to make him act that way, but he unexpectedly relented toward Bai Luo Yin.
"Alright then. You can go with me tomorrow, but we must agree on one thing. I’ll go handle some affairs at the base while you attend the ceremony. When I'm done, you must come back with me. You cannot find any excuses to delay our departure."
"Yes, Commander!"
Standing at attention, Bai Luo Yin gave a standard salute.
Before the sun had yet to rise in the early morning of the next day, Bai Luo Yin and Zhou Ling Yun set off together. They encountered some problems on the way, which caused a delay of about half an hour to their destination. By the time Bai Luo Yin arrived in Beijing, it was already over three o'clock in the afternoon. Once he got out of Zhou Ling Yun's car, he immediately took a taxi to Gu Hai's company.
Outside of HaiYin High-Tech's entrance, there was a bustling scene packed with noise and excitement at every corner. The venue was decorated resplendently, and the reception standard appeared to be exceptionally palatial. Bai Luo Yin requested the driver to park a hundred meters away from the venue. In truth, he never thought about attending the ceremony, he only wanted to take a look from a distance and leave once he was certain that everything went smoothly. He didn’t want anyone to know that he had been there.
At that moment, Gu Hai was on the first floor of the exhibition hall introducing his company's products to the military officials and leaders who came to support him. Yan Ya Jing had lost a considerable amount of weight from being up to her neck with work for the last several weeks, making her entire frame look quite a bit shriveled up. Even then, she was still outside supervising the decorations of the venue—all the dirty and hard work were all done by her alone. Whereas Tong Zhe had been standing at a relatively conspicuous spot chatting away with the guests the entire time, receiving all the recognition.
At half past three, the ceremony officially commenced. As more and more people filled the bottom of the stage, Bai Luo Yin stood at an inconspicuous spot where hardly anyone took notice of him.
Soon, Gu Hai and Tong Zhe walked out of the company's main hall to the red carpet that had been stretched out all the way to the stage. Then, under the countless gazes directed solely at them, the two men set their feet lightly on the red carpet and walked up the stage in high spirits, glowing with health and vigor.
When Bai Luo Yin saw that scene, an unpleasant sense of sourness mixed in with bitterness lunged into his heart.
"Thank you to all the honorable guests for attending our company’s public listing ceremony…"
After the host announced the opening remarks, it was time for the Chairman to make a speech. Bai Luo Yin stared attentively at Gu Hai, even though he seems thinner, his mental state is still as great as ever… it looks as if he hasn't been affected by anything at all. With that in mind, Bai Luo Yin didn't know whether he should be happy or upset.
A large screen flashed a five-seconds countdown, leading to the sound of a bell going off, announcing that the company had successfully gone public. At that moment, strings of fireworks shot from the backstage of the venue, which was quickly followed by a red silk fabric dropping from the back panel, disclosing HaiYin High-Tech's stock name and code.
At that very moment, Bai Luo Yin was secretly proud of Gu Hai from the bottom of his heart.
Very soon, the sounds of applauses combined with the firecrackers blending in with the pyrotechnics exploded throughout the entire venue.
In front of everyone’s attentive gaze, Gu Hai walked off the stage and met with Tong Zhe for a congratulatory hug. During the time that Bai Han Qi was hospitalized, if it was not for Tong Zhe's unyielding assistance, it would have been impossible for Gu Hai to have completed all the necessary tasks prior to listing in such short amount of time. Of course, he also hugged Yan Ya Jing and a few of the distinguished guests who found the time in their busy schedules to come celebrate with him.
Unfortunately, Bai Luo Yin did not see any of that. He only caught sight of Gu Hai and Tong Zhe's hug before he averted his gaze. By the time he returned his gaze, the city's leader was already on the stage, giving his speech to the audience. Meanwhile, Gu Hai and Tong Zhe were off stage, whispering in each other's ears and occasionally smiling at each other. That scene gave off an extremely intimate feeling.
A normal person would not overthink or blindly speculate anything after seeing that imagine. Apart from all the YY[1]female employees and the misunderstood Yan Ya Jing, only Bai Luo Yin felt that it was unbearable.
A burst cold air was choked up in his chest as he held his breath, but there was no way for him to smoothly release it.
Once the surrounding performances began and the atmosphere was full of enthusiasm, Bai Luo Yin turned around and took his leave. He shuffled through the tide of people toward the main road and hailed for a taxi.
"I think I saw your Yin Zi," Tong Zhe said.
Gu Hai laughed bitterly hearing that. "Don't make that kind of joke at a time like this, okay? How can he be here? If he would give me just one call, I will kneel down and bow to you three times…"
Just as he said that, Gu Hai's complexion suddenly changed before he bolted madly towards the road.
"I'm telling you, there's going to be interactive Q & A with the media in a bit!" Tong Zhe's voice was drowned by the crowd of people swarming him.
Not only had Bai Luo Yin already gotten into the taxi, the taxi itself had also started to take off. Theoretically speaking, Gu Hai should have been chasing from behind, but after being unable to catch up, he fell to the ground decrepitly. However, the reality of the situation was that before the taxi driver had a chance to accelerate, Gu Hai had already leaped in front of the car. The frightened driver quickly pressed down on the break, but it wasn't soon enough, since the front bumper of the car hit Gu Hai's waist, forcing him to retreat a few steps back. Unexpectedly, he was still able to gain a firm foothold as if nothing had happened.
As the driver looked at him in horror, Gu Hai simply went around to the side of the car door and gave it a couple of fierce kicks without any regards to his image.
"Get out!" Gu Hai bellowed at the Bai Luo Yin who was sitting inside.
Bai Luo Yin pushed open the car door and threw a punch at Gu Hai's face the moment he got out.
Gu Hai pulled the lapel[2]on Bai Luo Yin's jacket firmly and forcefully dragged him to a corner behind the company's building, before gazing at him with blood-red eyes. "You are fucking heartless. Since you came already, were you just going to leave without saying anything to me?"
"Is it necessary?" Bai Luo Yin answered with a question, as he looked back at Gu Hai apathetically.
"How is it unnecessary? How many days haven’t you contacted me? Do you know how I've been living all these days? Do you know how much pain I am in when I don’t get to see you?"
"I don’t know." Bai Luo Yin stared attentively at Gu Hai. "I feel that you have been living quite well."
"That is, you!!"
The muscles on Bai Luo Yin's face froze as he pushed Gu Hai away, but to no avail. He pushed him ruthlessly a second time, with still no hint of the man before him budging any time soon. Just as he wanted to push him again, the horn of a car sounded. A car slowly stopped not too far away before the window was rolled down, revealing Zhou Ling Yun's face.
"I have to go back now. Congratulations, Gu Zong."
Gu Hai pressed firmly against Bai Luo Yin as if to embed him into his own body, without letting him go. "Yin Zi, listen to me. Tong Zhe and I are just normal friends.[3]I took a liking to him at first sight not because I wanted him for myself. I just felt that he was worthy enough for Yan Ya Jing, so I stole him."
Hearing those words, Bai Luo Yin's body shivered with surprise.
"Yin Zi, Yan Ya Jing has remained at my side for five years, so regardless of how ruthless I am, I still care for her. I never brought this up with you because I was scared you might overthink it. The truth is, I have always been concerned for her. I can only be at ease once I see to it that she has a good ending. Ever since I brought Tong Zhe back to my company, I have been thinking of every possible way to create an opportunity for them. Apart from that, I really don’t know how else I can compensate her."
Compared to a moment ago, Bai Luo Yin's expression was already much more relaxed.
"Are you certain that she will like Tong Zhe?"
"I am certain."
When the sound of the horn behind him went off again, Bai Luo Yin faintly said, "I have to go."
Ignoring Zhou Ling Yun’s watchful gaze, Gu Hai fiercely kissed Bai Luo Yin’s lips.
"I will wait for you to come back."
Translator's Note:
[1]YY – is the acronym for '意淫yìyín' which means to fantasize / sexual fantasy, and can also mean, a crooked path which eludes to strange things. You can say something like, "Oh, that person is YY(-ing) you." 'That person is fantasizing about you'.
[2]lapel – the part on each side of a coat or jacket immediately below the collar that is folded back on either side of the front opening.
[3]friends – Gu Hai is actually using 哥们儿which mean brothers or bros.