Mistaken Canary Chapter 46
Chapter 46
The two of them drove back to Ying Tongchen's place. Zhuo Shu, already familiar with the layout, slipped into the bathroom and poked his head out to ask, "Why don't you join me? Waiting too long might make you catch a cold."
Ying Tongchen thought about it for a moment and didn't refuse. The wet clothes sticking to his body were uncomfortable. He walked in casually. Of course, it might also have been because he was back in his own place, without the old man hovering over him, so he felt much more relaxed.
Zhuo Shu also felt a lot more at ease, finally having shaken off those two.
While showering, they nearly let things get out of hand again. Zhuo Shu carried Ying Tongchen to the study, feeling that this time he could finally fulfill his dream. He whispered, "Teacher Ying, what should we do tonight?"
"Homework?"
"Please don't tell me it's mock exams again?" Zhuo Shu’s voice trembled from post-traumatic fear.
Ying Tongchen wrapped his arms around his neck and answered the question with a kiss, murmuring, "Today's homework is a bit… difficult."
"No matter how difficult, we have to tackle it. A diligent attitude is what we should have toward learning," Zhuo Shu said with a playful smile.
The battle between ‘teacher and student’ was about to ignite. The flames were already lit, waiting for the signal to officially begin.
Just then, someone accidentally bumped into the documents on the desk. Ying Tongchen suddenly snapped back to his senses and pushed Zhuo Shu away in time. "Mmm, no. I have class tomorrow."
Zhuo Shu was stunned and said, "I'll be careful."
Ying Tongchen shook his head, refusing again. "No, I haven't finished grading the homework yet."
Zhuo Shu: "......" I want to kill this teacher!
Ying Tongchen got dressed and pushed him toward the bedroom, saying, "You go to sleep first."
Zhuo Shu lay on the bed, full of resentment, and turned off the lights, ready to sleep.
Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes, staring into the darkness. His gaze drifted to the door, where a faint light from the study next door seeped through.
Fifteen minutes later, he sat straight up, turned on the light, threw on some clothes, and stomped to the study door, wrapped in a cloud of grumpiness.
Ying Tongchen was hunched over grading homework, not even looking up as he asked, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
"I can't sleep on an unfamiliar bed."
Ying Tongchen immediately retorted, "Nonsense."
Zhuo Shu pouted, "How much is left?"
"Two classes' worth," Ying Tongchen said, his red pen flying across the pages. "Almost done. You go to sleep first. I'll be done soon."
Zhuo Shu turned and left.
Ying Tongchen's pen paused for a moment, and he sighed quietly. He twirled the pen in his fingers and continued grading.
A short while later, there was a faint noise at the door.
He looked up and saw Zhuo Shu walking in with a folding chair, setting it down next to him, and gruffly saying, "Move over."
Ying Tongchen shifted a bit to the side.
Zhuo Shu sat down beside him, took a red pen from the pen holder, raised an eyebrow, and turned to look at him.
Ying Tongchen’s mind raced, and he immediately handed over some papers. "Just mark the multiple-choice questions. Here's the answer key."
"Mm." Zhuo Shu, looking utterly dejected, began correcting the papers, though it was unclear if he was lamenting the loss of his nightlife or the sea of red crosses across the pages.
"Whose paper is this? It’s terrible." He flipped it over to check the name. "Shi Tiwei? The big idiot who was piggy-backing Zhuo Zi last time?"
"Mhm."
"Huh, isn’t this Zhuo Zi’s?" Zhuo Shu chuckled. "It’s actually not bad."
"Zhuo Zi may seem carefree on the surface, but she’s actually quite diligent and hardworking," Ying Tongchen responded.
The two of them continued correcting papers and chatting, and although their speed slowed down, they were oblivious as the atmosphere remained pleasant.
After a while, Zhuo Shu marveled, "Whose paper is this? Almost everything is correct... Ban Zhang? He actually has time for studying?"
Ying Tongchen replied, "Mm, he's very smart, and he’s extremely focused in class, so his efficiency is high."
"His English handwriting is pretty good." Zhuo Shu couldn’t help but praise it, then passed the rest of the essay section to Ying Tongchen. "Zhuo Zi’s handwriting, though, is terrible. I should get her to learn from him sometime."
Ying Tongchen responded, "He knows a lot of different scripts. He often copies homeworks for other students in various styles."
"Talented guy." Zhuo Shu suddenly remembered the little ‘shady business’ at school, laughing as he added, "He’s not also ghostwriting love letters and formal apologies, is he?"
Ying Tongchen paused, the cap of his pen resting on his chin as he thought for a moment. "I haven’t found any evidence of that, but my gut says he probably does."
Zhuo Shu stared at Ying Tongchen's profile for a while, inexplicably finding his serious expression oddly attractive. When Ying Tongchen turned his head, Zhuo Shu quickly shifted his gaze back to the papers, pretending to focus.
With the help of another person, the assignments were corrected quickly.
Ying Tongchen put down his pen and picked up a glasses cloth to clean his lenses. "Thanks."
"No need to be polite," Zhuo Shu smiled, planning to wait for him to head back to the bedroom. He casually flipped through the notebook beside him. "What’s this? Meeting notes?"
"Mm."
"Your handwriting's pretty good." Zhuo Shu skimmed a few lines, about to close the notebook, but then froze mid-motion. He opened it again, flipping back to a specific page and examining it closely. His expression grew more complex. "Is this your handwriting?"
"Why wouldn’t it be?" Ying Tongchen placed his glasses in their case, closing it with a snap that startled Zhuo Shu.
"Do you know how to write in other scripts?"
"I'm not Ban Zhang, this is just my handwriting, and it’s the only style I use," Ying Tongchen said, noticing Zhuo Shu’s expression shift. "What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with my handwriting?"
"No–No problem at all," Zhuo Shu clutched his chest.
But there’s definitely something wrong with the love letter!
He had a sudden thought and pulled out Ban Zhang’s paper. Although it was hard to compare English and Chinese handwriting, after some careful scrutiny, he could still detect similar strokes at the beginning and end of the characters.
The paper fell limply from Zhuo Shu’s hands.
The love letter wasn’t written by Ying Tongchen for him—it was Ban Zhang’s, written for him... no, wait, Ban Zhang doesn’t even know me. So that leaves only one possible Xiao Zhuo from their class.
He fumed, "So Ban Zhang, that little brat, actually likes Zhuo Zi."
Ying Tongchen raised an eyebrow, confused. "How do you know that?"
"I just know," Zhuo Shu’s expression darkened as he shot a complicated glance at Ying Tongchen. His heart was in pain.
What an upstanding person—he really was just looking for a casual fling.
So what does that make me?
A tool!
Well, whatever, I have fun too. We’re just two tool people, nothing more.
"Let’s get to bed," Ying Tongchen glanced at the time.
"Heh, you’re that eager, huh?"
"?"
"Forget it, forget it." Zhuo Shu got up and headed back to the bedroom, flopping onto the bed. "Come on, tonight I don’t want to move. You do it yourself."
Ying Tongchen pulled the covers, and Zhuo Shu rolled over to the edge of the bed.
A moment later, the room went dark as the light was switched off.
He waited for a while, but there was no movement. Unable to resist, he turned his head and, with the help of the moonlight coming through the window, saw that Ying Tongchen had already fallen asleep peacefully.
After a prolonged silence, Zhuo Shu gently lifted the blanket and slid beneath it. His hand brushed against Ying Tongchen’s, and upon sensing the coldness, he began to rub it softly. Still unsatisfied, he wrapped it securely within his own palm.
In the darkness, Ying Tongchen’s eyelids fluttered slightly, but he didn’t open his eyes, allowing the warmth to spread across his body.
The next day, before dawn, Ying Tongchen opened his eyes. He moved a bit, then realized his hand was still in Zhuo Shu’s. Carefully, he withdrew it, got up quietly to wash up, and left a note before heading out.
Zhuo Shu woke to find it was already a little past seven. Noticing the room was empty, he went to the table and saw a note that read, “Going to morning self-study.” Only then did he head off to wash up.
As he was leaving, Auntie Lin from next door happened to be heading out to buy vegetables. She greeted him warmly when she saw him, "Good morning, mister plumber. Hey, Xiao Ying, why does this house always have problems? He should really talk to the landlord about it."
"Mm, you're right, he really should," Zhuo Shu agreed as he followed her downstairs, chatting casually before heading toward his car.
Auntie Lin’s eyes widened in surprise. "Wow! The plumbers these days can afford such nice cars?!"
….
Mi Shu had been working for most of the day and keenly noticed that her boss seemed in a bad mood. She knocked on the door, then entered respectfully with some files. "Chairman Zhuo, these two documents need your signature."
After signing, Zhuo Shu looked at the documents with a sour expression, then shut them with a snap.
Mi Shu was about to leave with the files, but as she reached the door, she heard him call out, "Come back, close the door."
She silently prayed for herself and then closed the door, turning around with a smile. "Chairman Zhuo, is there anything else you need?"
"Come here, I need you to analyze something for me."
"Alright."
Once Mi Shu sat down, Zhuo Shu pondered for a moment before speaking. "It’s like this, I have a friend..."
Mi Shu suddenly became alert. "This friend of yours wouldn’t happen to have the last name Zhuo, would he? Could he be the Chairman of K.W.?"
"Of course not!" Zhuo Shu raised his voice inadvertently.
"Okay, I understand. Please continue."
"As you know, in our circle, it’s quite common for people to have...'sponsorships' like this," Zhuo Shu said. "Well, my friend also decided to enter into such an arrangement."
"Mm-hmm."
"Problem is, he ended up picking the wrong person. The person he 'sponsored' wasn’t some starlet, but a teacher," Zhuo Shu explained.
Mi Shu gasped, "Hiss—" Hissifying!
Suddenly, she felt a little scared. Would she be able to walk out of this office alive after hearing this?
Zhuo Shu continued, "Then they redefined their relationship, now it's... well, another kind of relationship. You know what I mean."
Mi Shu: No, no I really don’t want to know what you mean!
"But just before all this, my friend had received a love letter from that teacher."
Mi Shu: Hm? Enter resting*.
(TLN: the raws used 因吹斯听, while it makes no sense in meaning, the four characters spoken in this order sounds like the English word ‘interesting’.)
"Turns out, yesterday my friend found out that the love letter wasn’t even from the teacher to him," Zhuo Shu said with a nonchalant expression, spinning his pen. The pen cap flew off with a flick.
Mi Shu jumped in fear, watching his expression carefully. After a moment, she nodded. "I believe I see where this is going. So, right now, you...r friend wants to consult you about what exactly?"
"I don’t know," Zhuo Shu said. "He said he’s frustrated, but I have no clue what he wants to ask."
Mi Shu gave a thoughtful look, adjusting her glasses. "The situation your friend is in sounds pretty similar to one my friend’s in right now."
Zhuo Shu paused, as if he’d finally found someone who understood. "Really?"
"Mm, she used to get upset over random things, but soon, she figured it out."
Zhuo Shu immediately pressed, "Figured out what?"
Mi Shu: "She wanted to go steady."
Zhuo Shu: "..."
"Chairman, just admit it, you really wish that love letter was written by Mr. Ying, don’t you?" Mi Shu said.
"How could that be? I’m not that kind of person. I’d never..." Zhuo Shu suddenly trailed off.
"Just as I thought. Don’t worry, I won’t say a word." Mi Shu shared a wise smile. "Chairman, even though autumn is almost here, that doesn’t stop you from having a spring romance. I think you two are quite a match. I was worried about Mr. Ying’s position, but now that he’s a legitimate teacher, what’s the problem with you two being together?"
Zhuo Shu retorted stubbornly, “I don’t even like him—Why should I be in a relationship with him?”
"There’s an easy way to find out. I'll give you a test, just wait a moment." Mi Shu looked down, and tapped and swiped away on her phone. "I'll ask you a few questions. Just answer as quick as you can. If you take more than three seconds, I'll consider it a default."
A moment later, Mi Shu pointed to a high-definition wallpaper of Liu Li’ang in her photo album and asked, "This man, is he handsome?"
Zhuo Shu answered without hesitation: "No."
Swipe. "This one is the youngest Best Actor. Handsome?"
"Eh, average."
"This one is known as the ‘Prince’ of Europe, who has captured the hearts of women worldwide. Handsome?"
"He's alright."
"This man, he's mediocre at best. Handsome?"
"..." Zhuo Shu was confused, pointing at the photo. "You call this mediocre?"
Mi Shu: "Please focus on my question—is he handsome or not?"
"...Wait a minute, why do you have his picture?" Zhuo Shu furrowed his brow, staring at the side profile of Ying Tongchen in the photo. He couldn't help but look at it for a moment longer. He didn’t even have that photo.
Mi Shu answered, "Mr. Ying was secretly photographed quite a bit when he last came to the company—those photos are all over the employee group chat."
"Delete them. Tell them all to delete it," Zhuo Shu's frown deepened as he found a perfectly reasonable explanation. "He's a teacher, not some fantasy object for you all."
Mi Shu ignored him and asked, "Second question: you two now have this 'other' kind of relationship. Have you ever thought about switching to someone else?"
Zhuo Shu shook his head. He didn’t want to switch people, that’s why he accepted this arrangement in the first place.
"What if Mr. Ying wants to switch to someone else?" Mi Shu pressed.
Zhuo Shu’s face suddenly stiffened.
Mi Shu continued, "You know, this kind of relationship is inherently unstable. What if one day, you grow old, lose your looks, get irritable, and stay up late, ruining your health? If Mr. Ying wants to switch to someone else, it wouldn’t be all that surprising."
Zhuo Shu shot her a cold glance, twirling his pen, which then flew out of his hand.
Mi Shu flinched, her tone earnest, "Forgive me for being blunt, Chairman, but you already have a desire to possess Mr. Ying. In all aspects, it’s clear he’s become an irreplaceable presence in your life."
Zhuo Shu remained silent, like a statue.
"Chairman, do you like him?"
"No..."
"Be honest, now. Touch your capitalist conscience and tell me."
Zhuo Shu paused, placing a hand over his conscience. After a moment, he said, "Ask me again."
"Do you like Mr. Ying?"
Zhuo Shu's hand trembled slightly, as if he could feel the beat of his own heart.
"No–No, that can't be right," he muttered in disbelief.
Could it be that his old iron-tree heart, long resigned to solitude, was finally about to bloom?
He quickly ran through all the memories of their time together and realized that his emotional fluctuations had become much more pronounced lately. Ying Tongchen seemed to have a way of tugging at his nerves.
He made him happy, angry, sad, and joyful, adding splashes of color to his once monochrome memories.
Do I like Ying Tongchen?
So, it turns out, I do like him.
He heard the voice in his heart confirming it.
Confident it was nearly a done deal, Mi Shu added, "Chairman, do you believe the moment you let Mr. Ying go, half the people in our company alone would line up to chase after him?"
Zhuo Shu's heart tightened. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Why not? Love is free!"
"They won't get the chance!" Zhuo Shu slammed the table, then quieted down after a moment. In a low voice, he asked, "So what should I do now? Just tell him directly that I like him? Or knock him out, drag him to the Civil Affairs Bureau, and change our relationship status right away?"
.
.
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TL Note: Lolol Oh Zhuo MollyColly, I don’t think they would allow a marriage certificate to process for an unconscious person xDD