A President’s Out-of-Body Experience

Chapter 23

When Old Mister Yu saw how his dejected son was lively and spritely now, he had mixed feelings. He went to golf with Old Mister Gu to relieve his stress. Old Mister Gu’s profile looked just like an older version of Gu Xiaoshan, as Old Mister Yu sat and stared at him, his expression was very solemn. Old Mister Gu felt a chill down his back, he turned around and asked Old Mister Yu, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing much,” Old Mister Yu replied gloomily. “You… you raised a good son!”

Old Mister Gu recalled how Yu Yuntao and Gu Xiaoshan fought on the business battlefield and laughed, “Your son isn’t too bad himself!”

Hearing that, Old Mister Yu got angry. “That son of mine is a fool!”

Old Mister Gu was surprised and joked, “Aren’t we talking about that intelligent son of yours?”

Is Old Gu looking down on Renzi, and think that he’s foolish? He probed subtly, “Oh, so what do you think about Renzi?”

“Him? … Very filial, and very kind.”

“Then, if I want to arrange a blind date between Gu Xiaowu and him, will you be alright with it?”

Old Mister Gu’s dentures nearly flew out in shock, but he still had a very calm expression on his face. He continued smiling, “Didn’t he try woo-ing Xiaowu before?”

Old Mister Yu snorted silently, yes, and he now wants to woo Xiaoshan! I only frequently mention that “it’s better to be related to the Gu family by marriage”, who would have thought that he’ll be so “filial”, and carry it out so fully!

As Old Mister Yu drank the chilled beverage in his hand, he smiled, “I’m just talking hypothetically. If he never woo-ed Xiaowu before, and Xiaowu didn’t reject him, and they were close like before, what do you think about this marriage?”

Old Mister Yu was very calm about it, making it sound just like a casual conversation. However, Old Mister Gu was an old fox who could sniff out anything suspicious. Still, he would never imagine a ridiculous thing like Renzi suddenly turning gay and wanting to woo Gu Xiaoshan, and so only thought that Renzi had not given up on Gu Xiaowu. After all, Renzi was of an age to get married already, Old Mister Yu must have thought about pulling the families together.

Honestly speaking, just like Old Mister Yu, Old Mister Gu would be happy for the two families to be related through marriage — but, it was impossible between Renzi and Xiaowu. It was not that he disdained Renzi, but it was Xiaowu herself that disdained him. Since his daughter had already made it so clear, that she did not like it, that she did not want it, he could not force her!

So, Old Mister Gu threw the ball back into his court. “Haha, you might as well have a hypothetical scenario where your Yuntao isn’t gay! You also know that Xiaowu likes Yuntao’s type.”

Oh no, Old Gu really looks down on Renzi. Hai, that’s true, it’s normal that the foxes of the Gu family wouldn’t like my foolish child.

Troubled, Old Mister Yu returned home. Renzi bounded down the stairs, dressed in white pyjamas, looking just like a rabbit.

“You’ve recovered? So lively!”

Renzi lowered his voice and spoke secretively. “My fever is gone, and I’ve even put on weight!”

Damn, it’s my son that’s troubled by love, but it’s me that’s getting all haggard over it!

Renzi spoke cheerfully, “Dad, you’re the best! Brother Xiaoshan is now very attentive towards me. What do you think, when should I tell him I like him?”

“What’s the rush?”

The smile on Renzi’s face faded away. “I’m in a rush, I can’t hold it in anymore.”

“If you can’t hold it in, then pee your pants!” Old Mister Yu huffed.

The father and son went to Renzi’s room. Having spent the past few days in the room, Renzi was feeling stifled. “Actually, I still want to pretend to be sick for a couple more days!”

“What? You might as well say that you have cancer, and make him accompany you for the rest of your days.”

Renzi started to seriously consider it, he touched his head. “Then, I’ll have to shave bald!” He even started to wonder if his looks would be maintained with a bald head, as Gu Xiaoshan seemed to go for appearances.

Old Mister Yu was furious. “Are you a fool? You think you’re in a Korean drama?”

Startled, Renzi replied. “Dad, you even know about Korean dramas?”

Old Mister Yu decided to speak straightforwardly. His son clearly did not understand subtleties! “You cannot just immediately blurt out that you like him, ok? You must first let him accept the fact that you’re gay!”

Renzi did not fully comprehend it. “If I told him I like him, isn’t that the same as telling him I’m gay?”

Old Mister Yu did not want to waste his time explaining, and only asked, “Do you want him?”

Renzi nodded his head vigorously. “I do!”

“If you do, then listen to me!”

Old Mister Yu sighed loudly and returned to his room. I’m not living up to the hopes and dreams of my ancestors!

As for Renzi, he was very staid, and slept all the way through the night. When he woke up and was about to send Gu Xiaoshan a text, he received a greeting from He Jun. For the past few days, he had also been chatting with He Jun through their social media account, as he was pretty bored. He Jun was pretty interesting, and would sometimes send him some jokes. The jokes were still ok, but thinking that they were sent by someone like He Jun, they became hilarious.

He Jun said that he found a pretty good pet-friendly restaurant, and wanted to invite Renzi to it. Renzi did not give it too much though, and brought Ha-cube there. However, to his surprise, He Jun came, but the poodle did not. Renzi was a little awkward. “Coming to a pet-friendly restaurant, why didn’t you bring your dog along?”

“I knew you’ll bring yours, so I didn’t bring mine to prevent any fights from happening.”

Renzi gave a sheepish smile. As the both of them had tea, Renzi was still hung up over the poor poodle, and so asked the staff to box up a hamburger that was meant for the dogs, giving it to He Jun for the poodle.

He Jun smiled, “On some matters, you’re really very considerate.”

This was the first time that Renzi had heard someone call him considerate, and he was very shy about it. He Jun then talked about his recent on-goings, how tragic he was, and how he barely could eat. Renzi was very shocked, “I’ve heard that it was very difficult for male models in the industry, but I’ve never expected that it’ll be so difficult!”

“Soon I won’t be able to afford to raise my dog too. I was thinking of moving over to the urban village to co-share a place, but I’m afraid that they won’t let me have a dog there.”

“You want to move to the urban village? Will it be safe there?”

“Even if my audition yesterday was successful, it’s also not enough to buy two months worth of dog food. We’ll see.”

Renzi was curious. “What audition was it yesterday?”

He Jun looked like he did not want to say it. This was just like what Old Mister Yu said, only by holding back, would people be interested. Renzi again asked, before He Jun replied. “It’s a little weird for me to tell you about this. It’s actually an event by the Yu empire. Telling you this, it feels like I’m asking money from you. I’m very sorry about that.”

Renzi exclaimed, “What’s there to be sorry about? Also, on the other hand, if you really can’t survive, it’s no trouble at all to ask me for money! As friends, we don’t have to be so calculative!”

Renzi went to the office to ask around. There really was such an event, and he even discovered that he was the one in charge of it. In the proposal, it was clearly written “Yu Yunren”. Renzi was alarmed, “How did I not know about this?”

Zhi Xuan spoke, resigned, “We were going to let you know once everything was prepared.”

As the “vice-president” and the “Second Young Master”, Renzi had a certain amount of fame. His looks were also good, and had nothing to do, so such publicity was usually left to this “vice-president” to appear as a “mascot”. Renzi also did not think too much about it, he would attend the event, all dressed up, smile, take photos, and that was it, he did not have to do anything else.

Renzi asked, “Is there a model with the name He Jun?”

Zhi Xuan thought, after turning gay, he still likes models. How single-minded. He then did a search, and passed the photo over to Renzi, “Is this him?”

Renzi nodded, “Yes! That’s him! He’s my friend, let him participate.”

“No problem.”

“He’s very pitiful, let’s increase his pay.”

While typing on the keyboard, Zhi Xuan replied, “With regards to pay, you have to talk to HR.”

Renzi was unhappy, “Are you pushing this off? Last time, when you were my assistant, you could handle such matters. Now, you know how to shove it to others.”

This child has grown, he even knows I’m shoving it to others. However, he only said, “I really am not, when you were the president, things were more casual. Now, Young Master Yu is looking over everything, no one dares to step beyond their boundaries.”

Renzi easily accepted this explanation, and did not say anything more.

When Renzi heard Zhi Xuan say that there was a document to be delivered to the Gu empire, he instantly volunteered to do it. Afraid that Renzi would be distracted midway and forget about official matters, Zhi Xuan told him, “How can I trouble the vice president about this matter?”

Renzi snatched the folder, “It’s no trouble at all! Anyway, I have nothing to do.”

Zhi Xuan had no choice, but he remembered the many times Renzi had lost various documents and contracts. He then smiled and coaxed him, “Sure then, thank you very much. Pass me the folder first, I’ll check it through before passing it back to you.”

Renzi was not suspicious, and handed the folder over. Zhi Xuan brought it back to his office, and passed it to someone he could trust to deliver it. Then, he grabbed another unimportant folder, and passed it to Renzi.

Renzi did not doubt anything, and he joyfully left for the Gu’s building. After delivering the documents to their department and making some small talk, he ran off to the president’s office. When the secretary Xu Yunyun saw Renzi, she smiled at him. “You’re free to look for President Gu today?”

“I just had some work to do, came to see Brother Xiaoshan along the way.”

What work is there for you to do? However, she only said, “Ah, you’ve worked hard. Sorry to have troubled you to come all the way here.”

Renzi went to the door and knocked, “Brother Xiaoshan, it’s me!”

Gu Xiaoshan opened the door very quickly, and glanced at Xu Yunyun who was unable to stop the harasser. Xu Yunyun was also a little embarrassed. With a stern look on his face, Gu Xiaoshan spoke. “Do you know, you need to have an appointment to see me?”

Renzi was alarmed. “I really didn’t know that.”

Gu Xiaoshan could only laugh, “You’re the exception.”