Intoxicated Friends
Translator: Jury
Editor: NomNom
First Published on Chaleuria
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08.2 – Su Mu’s Girlfriend
“So you went to look for the foreman to make things right?” Su Mu frowned. This guy always took other people’s matters upon himself.
“I wanted to use the law, too. But rural workers often don’t know about the importance of signing contracts, so I didn’t even have anything to sue him with. I couldn’t see him drop out of school to earn money for his father’s medical bills just as he’s about to graduate. His life will be ruined!” Yao Yuan was still ardent when talking about the matter.
Su Mu said nothing for a long time. This shouldn’t surprise him; wasn’t Yao Yuan rumored to be exactly such a person? Wasn’t this precisely why Su Mu valued him? He put aside his frustration. “Then what happened? He beat you up?”
“No, the negotiations went very well.” Yao Yuan spoke lightly of it now, but the situation at the time had been very dangerous. The foreman was both unkind and played dirty—if Yao Yuan hadn’t intimidated him from the outset, who knows how things might have gone.
“Then your injuries…”
“That guy was too damn crooked. After things were settled, he called someone up to get revenge. I took a knife to the shoulder and didn’t dare go home for a few days.” Yao Yuan pursed his lips, not bothering to hide his disdain for the businessmen who only cared about profits and not human lives. He remembered, a few days ago, Su Mu had told him about sending away elderly employees. In the future, Su Mu would probably also be an unscrupulous businessman. Yao Yuan couldn’t help but glare at him. Why am I, Yao Yuan, so muddleheaded as to be friends with such a person?
“Yao Yuan, you’re taking your anger out on me.” Su Mu could tell what he was thinking and smiled. “Come over and let me look at the wound.”
“I’m fine.” Yao Yuan caught hold of Su Mu’s hand undoing his buttons, worried Yao Qian would suddenly come back. “At least I’m stronger than you. I say, do our Eight Characters¹ clash? Nothing has gone well for me since we met.”
Su Mu leaned back against the headboard again. It did seem to be that way, but he said, “Be objective, Yao Yuan. Even if we hadn’t met, these things would have happened.”
Yeah. Yao Yuan couldn’t deny that. What happened to each of them was a result of their own personalities, and had nothing to do with the other. Neither of them was willing to live an ordinary life, and neither of them easily compromised on their principles, so of course their lives were full of unexpected events. To be honest, both of them were still young and in their prime, and faintly looked forward to such things. They liked issuing challenges to life. But right now, neither of them could have expected fate to arrange their meeting to be each other’s tribulation.
“Su Mu, I met your friend outside.” Yao Qian pushed open the door to the ward. Trailing behind her was a tall, beautiful young woman. When Su Mu saw her, a fleeting emotion flashed across his eyes, but Yao Yuan caught it: frustration and helplessness.
The girl walked with mincing steps to Su Mu and bent down to place a kiss on his lips without any hesitation. “Mu, I’m back.”
Su Mu smiled and deepened the kiss, then let her go. He looked at Yao Yuan, whose eyes were filled with uncertainty, and smiled. “Yang Weiyu, my girlfriend.”
Yang Weiyu turned to face Yao Yuan and generously held out a hand. “How do you do?”
“Hello, I’m Yao Yuan. I’m Su Mu’s friend, I guess. My sister, Yao Qian. Who you met just now.” After learning who the woman was, Yao Yuan was even more uncertain. He hadn’t mistaken the look in Su Mu’s eyes, but the girl was Su Mu’s girlfriend… and the two of them didn’t seem to be fighting.
After some polite conversation, Yao Qian drew close to Su Mu and winked at him. “Now I finally understand why you’re not interested in the girls at school.”
“Everyone else pales in comparison,”² Yao Yuan sighed, and Yang Weiyu hit his shoulder in feigned anger.
All of them started laughing, and the atmosphere in the ward was pleasant. Yang Weiyu’s gaze fell onto Yao Qian—a beautiful girl often had an instinctive aversion to other beautiful girls, and Yao Qian was a beautiful girl at her boyfriend’s side, at that. But quickly Yang Weiyu was reassured: she was intelligent and could easily see that Yao Qian had no such intentions toward Su Mu. All these years by Su Mu’s side, she had seen her share of envious gazes and had long since learned to discern people’s intentions.
Yao Qian hadn’t missed the way Yang Weiyu looked at her. She blinked at Yang Weiyu and asked quietly, “So, are you comfortable now?”
Having been seen through, Yang Weiyu’s face turned slightly red and she generously nodded. Girls’ thoughts ran in peculiar ways, and Yang Weiyu felt a surprising goodwill towards her after Yao Qian saw through her thoughts.
Su Mu hadn’t missed their exchange. He was used to Yang Weiyu reacting this way and thought there was nothing to worry about. As long as the Yang family remains at the top of the financial world, I, Su Mu, will treat you well and give you the status you want. As for love, no one in the world could change Su Mu’s decision. He would not allow uncertainties in his life.
Yao Yuan looked back and was surprised when he caught sight of the calculating glint in Su Mu’s eyes as he looked at Yang Weiyu. Was that how Su Mu treated his girlfriend? Later, when Yao Yuan learned from Yao Qian that Yang Weiyu was the only daughter of the financial magnate, Yang Qi, the first thing Yao Yuan recalled was Su Mu’s strange attitude. So that’s what it was, a corporate marriage? Su Mu, you really will sacrifice anything to get what you want. Yao Yuan silently rebuked himself again for mixing with the wrong sort. But it was too late; he already considered Su Mu a friend.
Translation notes:
[1] Eight Characters: Eight characters representing the year, month, date and hour of one’s birth, said to determine the course of one’s life. Often used in fortune-telling and checking marriage compatibility.
[2] He is quoting an idiom: ‘Now that I have seen the ocean, other bodies of water pale in comparison.’