Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 57 (Part 2)
This chapter was so funny, I laughed so much while translating it.
Translated by Pure
Edited by tingting
Chapter 57.2 In order to meet this legendary future sister-in-law who was able to capture his Brother Xiao, Hu Shaofeng groomed himself in reverence.
Hu Shaofeng's brain was interrogated into ashes. And after he stiffly left Xiao Family's house, he stayed on the bed for a whole night, and only realized after waking up——
Did Xiao Family mean to say that Xiao Chi was in a relationship?
No, no, there’s no way. No matter what, Hu Shaofeng couldn't associate his austere Brother Xiao with the words ‘woman’, ‘romantic’, and ‘girlfriend’. But from their conversation last night, Xiao Chi personally announced this news! How was this possible?
Hu Shaofeng racked his brains so hard that his head got dizzy, but he couldn't remember any notable woman around Xiao Chi during this time. It was absolutely impossible for it to be one of the girls from their compound, so could it be one of the customers? Or was there any company employee who cooperated with them?
But the only company that had cooperated with Flux Realty recently was New Beginnings Real Estate. What kind of employees were there in New Beginnings? Except for Lin Jingzhe and Deng Mai, there wasn’t anyone decent looking, the rest of them were busy running around the construction site with dust all over their faces. There was even less need to mention their clients. The average age of the female clients who had recently done business with Flux Realty were around forty years old.
But according to the list of characteristics Mother Xiao gave him last night in order to win his trust, the other party should not be very old. To study at Yan City University, she was also said to be smart and beautiful at the same time.
Hu Shaofeng went through all the girls in the student union, but he still couldn't find anyone who matched the description that was given by Xiao Chi.
Hu Shaofeng couldn't help but feel that the Xiao Family must have made a mistake. Maybe this girlfriend was completely imaginary? Otherwise, as Xiao Chi's best buddy, how could he have no impression of her at all?
But soon, he also suddenly remembered a rather particular thing: when Xiao Chi suddenly moved from Xiao Family's house to Dongtai Community some time ago.
He remembered Xiao Chi's previous promise that he could come to his new house to talk business when needed. But he had never been there once! Hu Shaofeng sat upright from his bed. He walked around his bedroom anxiously, rummaged through boxes and cabinets, and finally pulled out a stack of materials that could be used as an excuse.
Taking out his phone book, Hu Shaofeng found the landline number that he had never dialed since writing it down.
It was past nine o'clock, but Xiao Chi’s voice sounded as if he had just woken up. "Hello?"
Hu Shaofeng glanced at the time in disbelief. He remembered that Xiao Chi had the habit of getting up at seven o'clock every morning since middle school. It seemed that something was really going on.
Cautiously, Hu Shaofeng asked, "Brother Xiao, I have a document to hand over to you. Can I come over to Dongtai Community right now?"
Xiao Chi paused for a while before asking, "Can't we talk about it at the company?"
Hu Shaofeng pestered endlessly, "It’s a little urgent."
While he was waiting for a response, Hu Shaofeng heard Xiao Chi's voice move a little further away from the microphone, as if he was talking to someone next to him, "Hu Shaofeng said he’ll be coming over in a bit..."
When he heard Xiao Chi asking someone for their opinion, Hu Shaofeng almost jumped from shock. Holy shit! It’s already so late in the morning, the motherf*cker hasn’t even gotten out of bed yet and there’s still someone lying next to him?!
After a while, Xiao Chi said to the phone: "Fine, you can come."
He was about to hang up the phone, but Hu Shaofeng stopped him with an urgent shout, "Brother Xiao!!!"
Xiao Chi patted Lin Jingzhe, who was disturbed after being awakened by the ringing of the phone, and answered in a dissatisfied voice, "What's wrong?"
"Are you living with someone else?!" Hu Shaofeng was dumbstruck by the sudden news. "Is it my sister-in-law?"
Xiao Chi chuckled, his cold voice finally softened as he replied softly, "Yes."
Holy F*ck! ! ! ! Holy F*ck! ! ! ! Holy F*ck! ! ! !
It's f*cking true! ! ! !
In order to meet this legendary future sister-in-law who was able to capture his Brother Xiao, Hu Shaofeng doused himself in cologne, changed into a brand new set of clothes, and even meticulously did his hair. After making sure he was presentable, he set off, still in a state of shock. Hu Shaofeng drove into the Dongtai Community, bearing many gifts, and followed his memory towards the familiar house. He tried his hardest to put on airs, putting on an extremely dignified and serious expression.
He had to make a good first impression!
The courtyard gate opened and Hu Shaofeng drove in, he parked the car, and ran towards the front door in a hurry. After taking two steps, Hu Shaofeng suddenly turned his head back. His eyes flickered suspiciously over the two cars that were parked in the driveway.
There were two black sedans parked there, neither of which was a unique model. One of them was very familiar to him; it was the one that Xiao Chi often rode.
What was particularly strange was that although the second car was not one that Xiao Chi had driven before, Hu Shaofeng found it awfully familiar.
From the car shape to the license plate, everything gave him a sense of déjà vu.
Hu Shaofeng mulled over where exactly he saw this car. After ringing the doorbell, the door opened, and the moment he saw the person who opened the door for him, Hu Shaofeng's mind suddenly lit up.
Lin Jingzhe! Wasn't this Lin Jingzhe's car! This was the car he usually drove when they met up to talk business!
Hu Shaofeng’s astonished eyes met Lin Jingzhe's. After a while, he took two steps back and looked at the house number next to the gate. "Uh..."
Lin Jingzhe glanced over the pile of things he was carrying and then let go of the doorknob. He stepped back with his slippers lazily, turned around, and made way for Hu Shaofeng to enter, "Come in."
"...???"
Hu Shaofeng stood at the door and peeked at the familiar decoration inside. He hesitated for more than ten seconds before stepping into the house hesitantly. Lin Jingzhe opened the shoe cabinet, found a pair of slippers and threw them at Hu Shaofeng’s feet. And very naturally, he then picked up the pile of bags that the latter left next to the cabinet when changing shoes. "Mr. Xiao is in the kitchen."
Hu Shaofeng wanted to ask Lin Jingzhe why he was at Xiao Chi's house so early, but he didn't find a chance. Lin Jingzhe turned around with his things and went into the house.
Hu Shaofeng: "..."
He looked around the house; this was a very comfy home, a little different from what he saw when it was first renovated. The spacious living room did not look empty at all. There are many daily necessities on the coffee table and in the cabinets on the wall. There were books spread out on the coffee table. TV was also on, broadcasting the morning news. The standard mandarin spoken by the host filled the space that should have been extremely quiet.
Hu Shaofeng walked in cautiously, Lin Jingzhe's movement of opening the bag and putting apples in the refrigerator filled his peripheral vision. For a moment, he even thought that he had entered the wrong house, until a familiar figure came out of the kitchen. He was even holding a casserole pot that was still bubbling.
The sweet aroma of rice and meat lingered in his nostrils, but Hu Shaofeng's attention was all on the standard apron on the other party. Xiao Chi had rolled his sleeves; the white button up and apron were very incompatible, but he didn't seem embarrassed at all. After putting down the casserole, Xiao Chi lightly glanced at Hu Shaofeng. "You’re here?"
Lin Jingzhe set the table up with bowls and chopsticks while he casually asked Hu Shaofeng, "Mr. Hu, have you had breakfast? If you haven't eaten, would you like to eat together?"
"...Er..." Hu Shaofeng stared at the close cooperation between the two of them, and couldn't help but look up upstairs. Was Xiao Chi’s companion in bed?
Lin Jingzhe didn't get an answer, so he glanced over. When he saw the expression on Hu Shaofeng’s face, Lin Jingzhe raised his brows slightly, and turned his head to show Xiao Chi a subtle taunting smile.
Xiao Chi received his signal right away. His hand that was removing the lid of the casserole paused as he suddenly pecked Lin Jingzhe's lips.
There was a soft ‘mwah’ sound.
Lin Jingzhe didn't expect Xiao Chi to be such a lunatic, he was taken aback by his sudden attack. After regaining his senses, Lin Jingzhe pinched Xiao Chi's stomach fiercely. He was too embarrassed to see Hu Shaofeng's reaction, so he hurried into the kitchen.
Xiao Chi turned to watch him walk off. He turned back after a while, smacking his mouth, but the smile on his face faded when he looked at Hu Shaofeng. "Let's have breakfast together. Where are the documents?"
"........." Hu Shaofeng raised his arm mechanically and slid the manila envelope he was holding onto the table little by little. He swore he could almost hear the sound of his bones and joints creaking, like parts in disrepair. That action made when the two quickly approached and separated just now was all too familiar to Hu Shaofeng.
Unable to support its weight, the manila envelope fell to the ground with a thud.
Hu Shaofeng’s mind was already in a mess, he didn’t react much as he looked down at the manila envelope, hypnotized. His eyes then fell on the pair of slippers that Lin Jingzhe had given him when he entered the house just now.
"... Brother Xiao." He suddenly called out in a dull voice.
Xiao Chi casually looked at him, "Huh?"
"I..." Hu Shaofeng swallowed desperately, and continued with a dry throat, "...I'm going out for a smoke."
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Translated by pure, hosted on puretl.com / do not repost
Note from Pure: I know HS asked XC if it was his ‘sister-in-law’, but in Chinese this term is gender neutral. It sounds more natural in the original text, but there isn’t anything I could think of as a translation better suited than ‘sister-in-law’. I did consider just using ‘in-law’, but HS isn’t even related to XC, the word saozi(sis-in-law) is used rather casually in china so 🤷