Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 86 (Part 3)
Translated by Pure
Chapter 86.3 Extra [Sixteen years later I]
Lin Jingzhe took an all night flight and landed in Yan City early in the morning. Just in time for the morning rush hour, the expressways leading and leaving the airport were jammed with traffic.
After 1995, Yan City's population began to skyrocket. This blowout began after China’s successful bid for the Olympic Games and lasted for seven years, resting neither day nor night.
With cities getting bigger and bigger, elevated highways were also constructed with increased haste. House prices in Yan City have risen like crazy, becoming more and more abnormal. A few years ago, Flux Realty led a group of businessmen from the alliance in an attempt to suppress the surging prices, but in the end they failed to achieve any results. The city where prices were one to two thousand per square meter for a city center house no longer existed. At the same time, while countless multistory buildings replaced the dilapidated alleys, the average transaction prices of commercial housing soon exceeded the ten thousand yuan mark.
Even so, there were still building constructions everywhere.
With the aid of the light of the morning sun, Lin Jingzhe looked into the distance and saw the newly completed Absolute Edifice in the new financial district not far away.
In 1994, he divided some employees from New Beginnings Real Estate and established their first subsidiary ‘New Beginnings Architecture’. Led by Xiao Chi's professional construction team, they were able to cultivate a group of architectural elites unique to New Beginnings Real Estate. Over the past ten years, the domestic construction level has also been developing at a rapid speed. This latest Absolute Edifice, which was built in the new financial district of Yan City’s fourth ring, had its balcony soaring into the sky, with a whopping height of seventy-five stories.
Absolute Edifice could be called the focal point of this business district. It was built in the best location, surrounded by slightly lower multi-story buildings like stars cupping themselves around the moon. Surrounded by elevated roads and directly accessible by subway, the high-end brand shops on the ground floor have also been contracted and built. During a previous New Beginnings Real Estate meeting, with the aid of the marketing reach team, they decided to hold an official opening ceremony after the Olympic Games. One can imagine the great momentum this beautiful building will create in the commercial real estate circle of Yan City.
The car hadn’t moved in a long while. With nothing to do, Lin Jingzhe simply browsed his blog on his mobile, and was barraged with countless pings as soon as he logged in.
He clicked in, took a quick look, and immediately frowned. He opened news regarding the people he followed and saw photos of Xiao Chi speaking at the conference from yesterday. The photo was probably taken by the media. The picture was rather high definition and perfectly captured Xiao Chi's tall and straight figure, stern facial features, and his tied up curly hair.
His expression was very solemn, and because of his tall stature, he had to lower his head slightly to speak into the microphone. The strands of loose curly hair fell from his head, playfully hitting his sharp jawline and tall nose.
One of his hands was open and supported on the tabletop, with the back of his hand tensed. His thin and slender fingers were graceful and defined, and his nails were plump and clean, and trimmed to perfection.
There was a close-up of his wrist. There were several strings of Buddhist beads around it. The wooden beads were a sharp contrast to his light complexion, exuding an indescribable feeling.
There was also a post-conference photo of all the businessmen who participated in the meeting. Xiao Chi, who was 1.92 meters tall, stood out among the masses. He seemed to be in a bad mood, his eyes staring at the camera were sharp and full of impatience, but precisely because of this, his extraordinary temperament became even more difficult to conceal.
Riddled below the post were countless love-stricken comments. The group of people were clamoring that Xiao Chi was the hottest man in the domestic business world. He was tall, handsome and rich, but there were also people who suffered from KY[1] and had to mention: ‘Mr. Lin of New Beginnings Real Estate is obviously the hottest man in the business world!!!"
Thus the two fan bases started fighting each other, comparing their ‘hubby’s’ height, temperament, and wealth. Lin Jingzhe saw it and inwardly murmured, "Oh my God."
He took a few more glances at the comments calling Xiao Chi their husband and quit the blog unhappily to click on his address book.
The car got off this elevated highway, then drove onto another highway, and entered the third ring. A huge rectangular building appeared in front of him. Lin Jingzhe raised his head and glanced at the ‘Best Partner IT’ logo, and said to Deng Mai, "Remember to remind me to contact Wu Wangfei later. Liang Pi is still in Silicon Valley and probably won’t be able to come back before the end of the month, but he requested me to organize a meeting with Wu Wangfei and the others in his stead.”
"Will do." After Deng Mai silently noted it down, he took a second look at the tall building and asked, "Didn't Mr. Liang said last time that this building was no longer big enough to hold all their employees? When do they plan to move?"
"The new industrial area in the Hi-Tech Industrial Development District should be in its final stages of development, so sometime by the end of the month?" Lin Jingzhe glanced at the time on his phone and assumed Xiao Chi was not awake yet. He caressed the string of numbers on the screen that he could already recite by heart but still did call in the end. "By the way, has Aunt Ding returned to Yan City?"
Deng Mai nodded.
"It's still early now, so can you help me tell Auntie at ten o'clock that I will take Xiao Chi home for lunch at noon." Lin Jingzhe said, "We haven't seen each other for so long. We should all take a break from work, you come as well; let’s all get together.”
Deng Mai glanced at him with an inexplicable expression, and then finally nodded.
Just before Lin Jingzhe was about to abandon the car to take the subway, they finally arrived at Dongtai Community.
This high-end villa community, which was seldomly seen a decade ago, had now been abandoned by the trend. However, due to its superior location, the property there was in great demand. Dongtai Lake was full of playful tourists and swaying boats, but amid the hustle and bustle, the community itself remained tranquil, hidden behind the heavy tree shades.
The house had aged, but after living here together for over ten years, Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi were reluctant to move out.
Therefore, the famous property management company under Flux Realty dispatched the best managers for this area. When Lin Jingzhe came in, all the security personnel said hello to the resident who was as familiar as their own family.
"Thank you for your hard work." Lin Jingzhe put down the gifts he had brought to them from San Francisco, with his heart set on speeding home, he didn’t delay his stay any longer. He quickly went home and opened the door gently.
The first thing he smelled was the woody aroma unique to Xiao Chi.
It was still early, just before eight o'clock. Lin Jingzhe quietly closed the door, changed his shoes, took off his trenchcoat, and washed his hands. He then offered three sticks of incense each, to his grandfather and to Bodhisattva respectively, in the Buddhist Hall on the first floor.
This was a habit that he and Xiao Chi have developed over the many years of cohabitation.
Tiptoeing, he went upstairs and opened the door as silently as possible for fear of waking Xiao Chi. Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened the door, Lin Jingzhe collided into the latter's pair of bright and expressive eyes.
Xiao Chi was in his pajamas, his hair disheveled while sitting cross-legged on the bedding, and fixedly watched Lin Jingzhe enter. His expression was obviously displeased, but it improved slightly at the sight of Lin Jingzhe's considerate action of bending his waist and tiptoeing.
"Why aren’t you sleeping?" Lin Jingzhe glanced at the time, and straightened up in surprise. He stepped forward with a smile and ruffled Xiao Chi’s hair, then put down his bag, took off his coat, and walked towards the bathroom.
An overwhelming warmth suddenly rushed up from behind him, and then a familiar scent surrounded him. After being tossed around, Lin Jingzhe adjusted his sight and found that he had been dragged to the bed by Xiao Chi. Xiao Chi restrained him with his legs, and then reached out to nimbly take off his suit.
This…was this the ‘reunion after an absence is another honeymoon’?
The kisses came down like raindrops. Lin Jingzhe found it hard to resist this passion, but he still tried his best to stay sober and logical. "Can I take a shower first? Please?"
Xiao Chi muttered a ‘no’, then pierced and tore his considerably expensive suit into tatters.
Lin Jingzhe: “………………”
Why so wild?
After a round of sweat, Xiao Chi's anger somewhat subsided. He hugged Lin Jingzhe and said, "You are not allowed to wear suits like this in the future."
"Huh?" Lin Jingzhe weary combed at Xiao Chi's sweaty curly hair, bunched it together on the back of his head, and then let go. His cold fingers then caressed the short stubbles on Xiao Chi's chin, then circled to his chest. "Why?"
Xiao Chi grabbed his naughty wrist, lowered his eyes, and fell silent for a while. He took out his phone, scrolled around before finding the post he had previously seen, and showed it to Lin Jingzhe.
"I want to delete this." Mr. Xiao solemnly proclaimed.
Lin Jingzhe said: “………………”
"Their photography skills are too poor." Afraid that Mr. Lin would disagree, Mr. Xiao gave it some thought before starting with an objective observation as a starting point for his persuasion.
Lin Jingzhe silently stared at his full of mettle appearance in the photo, then accidentally clicked exit, and was immediately hit with the weirdly angled selfie of himself that was the background of Xiao Chi's phone.
"..." Without a sound, he put down Xiao Chi’s phone, took out his own, pulled out the trending post he saw on his way home, and held it up to Xiao Chi's eyes.
Xiao Chi: "…………"
—Mr. Xiao is the number one most desirable bachelor: {Lin fans, who claim that he is the #1 Mr Perfect, lololololol their faces must be =——————= this big! Mr. Xiao is 192cm tall, has a super trendy hairstyle, and is even ranked higher than Lin in Forbes magazine! Plz open your eyes more tyvm!}
Xiao Chi: "..."
What the hell is this!?
Xiao Chi threw aside the phone-turned-hot potato and quickly explained, "I don't know anything about this!"
Lin Jingzhe smiled at him. "Then delete this one too."
"Okay, okay!" All of Xiao Chi's jealousy was quickly forgotten as he fearfully nodded.
Lin Jingzhe squinted his eyes, and with extraordinarily attentiveness, sized him up and down, "Indeed, you are very tall."
"..." Xiao Chi hurriedly dissuaded, "It's too inconvenient, 1.87 meters is a better height."
Lin Jingzhe drew back the corners of his mouth. "And a trendy hairstyle?"
"Not at all!" Xiao Chi shook his head: "You do a better job."
Lin Jingzhe touched his chest gently, "I heard that your Forbes ranking is also pretty good?"
Xiao Chi pushed him back onto the bed and quickly kissed and comforted. "It's all yours! The cars, houses, and shares, they’re all yours."
Lin Jingzhe laughed softly, hugged him, and nibbled his lips.
***
Twelve o'clock. At the dinner table of Zhou Haitang's house.
The Zhou Family: "..."
The Gao Family: "..."
Deng Mai: "..."
Mother Zhou scratched her head. “Are they still coming?”
.
.
.
Footnotes:
[1] KY - A Japanese slang, "KY" is an abbreviation for "kuuki yomenai" (空気読めない), which roughly translates to "unable to read the atmosphere." This term is used to describe someone who is socially awkward or insensitive, and who doesn't understand the mood or atmosphere of a situation. It can also refer to someone who is unaware of the needs or feelings of others, and who acts inappropriately as a result.
