Ch82 – Contagion (iii)

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Gu Yan was upset.

He wasn’t the angry sort of upset, but felt more of a complicated emotion that was hard to put to words… 

Yan Suizhi gazed at the completely-still smart device.
He could practically imagine how Gu Yan’s brows would gently knit before quickly smoothing out, recovering his usual appearance of extreme calm and falling silent…

He knew all of this.

 

 

Even if the distance between the smart device and the space shuttle kept pulling apart, he could feel Gu Yan’s emotions.

But how should he coax him this time? 

Professor Yan was slightly worried, leaning back in the soft leather office chair, holding his chin in his hand for a moment as his thoughts drifted off.
Then, he sighed and went to the pantry to pour himself a glass of water.

 

When walking past Gu Yan’s office desk with the warm water, his feet faltered.

The spacious and dignified desk was extremely tidy, just like the impression that Gu Yan normally gave others.
A pot of bamboo was set on one corner of the table.
This was a plant that Fizz had forcibly stuffed into each office as interior decor when the lawyers’ offices were just furbished.

However, in the few years afterwards, others’ pots had died several times; only Gu Yan’s one pot remained in fairly good condition.
During a random chat, Fizz had once mentioned that Gu Yan generally didn’t let others touch this bamboo; after all, the law firm was full of plant killers—it was a miracle for it to have survived to this day.

 

But Yan Suizhi had casually watered this pot a fair number of times before.
Every time, Gu Yan merely raised his gaze, never uttering a word.

The esteemed Professor Yan had a bad habit.
When his thoughts were fixated on some problem or other, his hands would fidget slightly.
In the past, the dean’s office used to have a tall indoor plant by his seat.
The fine leaves were pleasant and cool to the touch.
As he mulled over something, he would have his chin in his hand, his fingers often unconsciously touching those leaves.

The cleaning lady in charge of tidying the office was very observant.
When she noticed this habit, she would always turn the potted plant to another side every time she finished cleaning, preventing him from over-harassing a single leaf and giving the plant a bald spot.

At this time, he leaned against the edge of Gu Yan’s office desk, his thoughts wandering as he stared at the empty seat.
By the time he came back to his senses, he then realised that the warm water in his hands was half less, whereas the other half had unconsciously been watered into the potted bamboo, a little bit at a time. 

The soil in the pot was already drenched.
The water had turned into a tiny puddle, gurgling as it formed a small bubble in the soil, then slowly caved in, unable to be retrieved.

“…”

Yan Suizhi fell silent for a moment.
He bent over and lifted the foliage for a look, and found that the bamboo roots indeed were showing faint signs of droopiness.
Based on his rich experience with similar calamities, this bamboo was quite likely soon to drown to its death by his watering.

“…” 

Professor Yan only stiffened for a split second before darting his hand down like he had committed a folly, whipping his head away and returning to his seat.

He was about to drive Gu Yan off in a rage, and he was about to drive Gu Yan’s bamboo into its early grave.

Yan Suizhi worried even more now, feeling that he was doomed to be unable to get along with this mint essence.

— 

When he left the law firm in the afternoon, Ms Fizz, who had taken the initiative to offer a ride, inspected Yan Suizhi from head to toe before asking, “Ruan? What happened to you?”

Yan Suizhi gave a start.
“Nothing.
Why?”

 

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“You don’t look like you’re doing so well,” Fizz said.
“Did Gu leave you work before going on his business trip? Or did you encounter any issues? I heard Luke found you a new apartment?”

“Mn,” Yan Suizhi nodded.
“Even you know of this?” 

Fizz proudly said, “Of course; is there anything that I don’t know? Do you intend to move out tonight then?”

Yan Suizhi thought about it then shook his head.
“I’ll probably just pack tonight and move tomorrow.”

“Are you waiting for Gu to return before you move?” Fizz asked.

Yan Suizhi paused.
Then he nodded, saying, “Yeah, I’m waiting for him to return.” 

“Okay then.
I originally wanted to volunteer my services if you were moving tonight, and send you and your luggage off over there.” Ms Fizz wore a regretful look on her face, continuing without adding any frills, “Pity, I wanted the opportunity to send off a young handsome man and get a free meal out of it.”

“I heard that your new landlord is very handsome too; there goes my chance to get a glimpse of him as well,” Fizz said.

Her regret looked almost genuine.

Yan Suizhi found it both amusing and embarrassing.
“I do have his comms number, and I can give it to you if you need.” 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection.
If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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“Pa lrc’a j yjv lvfj ab wbnf abwbggbk.
Xe mjc tfiq sbe qjmx eq jcv rfcv sbe bnfg abb.”

Yan Suizhi laughed drily.
He said in his head, Let alone helping, your Lawyer Gu doesn’t seem to want to bother with me anymore.

“Sgw… vlv P rjs rbwfatlcu kgbcu?” Mlhh uijcmfv ja tlw jrxjcmf, “Qts vlv sbeg wbbv rffw ab aegc yjv jujlc?”

Tjc Velhtl klqfv tlr ojmf.
Llr ijeutafg kjr vfilyfgjafis mjreji.
“Pr la atja bynlber? P’w offilcu rilutais gfugfaoei atja P mjc cb ibcufg ilnf lc j yelivlcu jr fzqfcrlnf jr Ojksfg Xe’r. 

Ms Fizz chortled.

The car was driving on autopilot mode.
Before long, they turned into the garden area past the gates to the villa district in the city.
It wasn’t a busy day in the law firm; not many people pulled overtime.
So when they drove into the community, the daylight had only just started to dim, the twilight of the setting sun gilding the flowers and unmelted snow with a layer of gold in the afterglow.

The ostentatious red car stopped before Gu Yan’s villa.
Yan Suizhi got out of the car.
He waved at Fizz by the flowerbed, saying, “It’s rare for you to get off work so early; rest well.”

“If I can get out at this time every day, I’ll be able to live to five hundred.
This sight really makes my heart feel so light and worry free—” Ms Fizz was only midway through her words when her smile stiffened.
She lowered her voice and continued to say, “—drat, curse it!” 

Yan Suizhi, “???”

Fizz’s line of sight shot past his shoulders, looking at a spot behind him, her expression so cursed it really looked as if she had seen a ghost.

 

“What is it?”

“Hobbes—” Fizz whispered. 

A lean man with silver-grey hair stood at another villa byway not far off.
He was wearing a black overcoat and was bundled in an iron-grey scarf.
His features looked austere.

His eyes were almost the same colour as his hair; when he gazed over, he looked like a circling hawk awaiting the opportunity to strike.
Naturally, this could also be a visual effect enhanced by his aquiline nose.

It wasn’t anyone else but the old codger Hobbes that they just so happened to be worried about running into.

Although Hobbes wasn’t young, his vision and hearing was still sharp, and was spirited especially when he was grabbing at pigtails. 

Back facing him, Ms Fizz bit her lips, making eyes at Yan Suizhi.
“What should we do? How about you just get back in the car and say that you’re heading over to mine?”

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Yan Suizhi lifted his brows, telling her softly, “Isn’t it too obvious if I get back in the car?” With that, he patted the car window, saying, “It’s fine.
You can head off first.”

When he did something like this, it always seemed to bring a strong calming effect, perhaps due to the constant smile on his face that made him look unflustered.
Without thinking about it, Fizz nodded, and was even about to press the ignition button when she reacted: Hang on, am I actually letting a little intern face Hobbes himself? Since when did I become so complaisant?

So Ms Fizz pulled back the finger that was about to start the car, glanced at Yan Suizhi, then looked at Hobbes, countless excuses darting through her mind— 

I couldn’t resist inviting this intern to dinner at my place because of how handsome he is? No way.
Even if it sounded true, it wouldn’t speak well for the intern.

Gu Yan is on a business trip, so he entrusted his intern to take care of his house for a day? No way, that was even more preposterous.

While she fumed over how useless her brain was at finding excuses, Hobbes opened his mouth, as if about to say something.

However, right before he could, Yan Suizhi turned his head over to look at him with never-seen-before naturalness.
Then, even more naturally, he jolted, saying with a smile, “Mr Hobbes.
It seems that my timing was right on the dot.” 

The mouth that Hobbes had just opened closed.
He looked at Yan Suizhi, dumbfounded, “???”

Ms Fizz, even more dumbfounded, “???”

“What are you up to?” Fizz furtively whispered under her breath.
Yan Suizhi subtly waved a hand at her, telling her that it was fine and not to worry about it.

After that, Yan Suizhi strode to stand in front of Hobbes. 

“What do you mean by ‘on the dot’?” Hobbes’ brows were furrowed as he asked him.

Yan Suizhi said, “I asked Ms Fizz where you stayed and specially got her to give me a lift to look for you.
I originally thought that I would have to wait a while, but I didn’t expect that the timing was just right…”

 

His expression was open and his smile was polite, as if he were a colleague with deep-seated experience whilst also like he had bumped into a collaborative partner… anyway, he didn’t look like any other intern in the firm.

The teacher’s authority that Hobbes commandeered before Luke and the other interns seemed somewhat lacking in front of Yan Suizhi. 

It was unfathomable…

Hobbes said in his head, What am I feeling lacking in front of an intern for? And so his face became even more stern.
He deepened his voice into a tone that broadcasted ‘we’re practically strangers’, saying, “What are you looking for me for?”

“Oh—” Yan Suizhi softly drawled.
He said with a smile, “Actually, it isn’t anything much.
I just feel that you’ve always seemed particularly opposed to me.
I walked past your office three times today, and all three times you were staring at me.
My eyes didn’t deceive me, did they?”

Hobbes, “…” 

“If this goes on, the effect it would have on both our mood and work performance isn’t ideal, so I wanted to have a chat with you.
But it isn’t very appropriate to waste work time discussing such personal issues in the firm.
I could only wait for you to get off work.
If you don’t mind, shall I drop by your place for a while?”

From the start, Yan Suizhi wasn’t in a very good mood today; as such, every word he spoke now jabbed between the ribs of the man opposite him.

There didn’t appear to be anything wrong with what he had said.
However, the focus was actually on two points—first, personal issues; second, chat at his place.

Personal issues clearly stated that this wasn’t work-related.
It was emotional bias purely formed from personal feelings, which also meant that Hobbes was stepping out of bounds by making things difficult for the intern. 

As for chatting at his place, that was what Hobbes was most terrified of.

Gu Yan was on the publicised list of First-Class Lawyer nominees; Hobbes was as well.
The most suitable way to behave now was to not allow anyone to capture anything that was even a wee bit problematic.
Even something ordinary, as long as there was the potential to be twisted into anything else, would be highly troublesome.

Especially for an old codger like Hobbes, it looked too inappropriate to let an intern into his house in the middle of the night!

And so Hobbes frowned, tilting his upper body backwards, using a sort of ‘stay clear of me you vicious snake’ to look at Yan Suizhi, then waved.
“Nothing of that sort.
I’m not opposed to you at all, simply that I feel that you don’t behave the way an intern should at the law firm.
Gu Yan is still young and had never willingly accepted an intern before; you’re the first, and was even forced onto him.
He is lacking experience when it comes to disciplining interns, whereas I’m an experienced lawyer who has been doing this for a long time, so I was merely giving you some pointers.
There are no personal feelings involved.” 

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Yan Suizhi nodded.
“Is that so? That’s great then, I must have been overthinking it.
After all, as a highly qualified, deeply experienced senior lawyer, it’s impossible for you to be so narrow-minded.”

Hobbes, “…”

Once again, with the old and narrow-minded, his words stabbed straight into the heart.

The way this young man spoke was as if he no longer wished to make a career at Southcross Law Firm. 

The corners of Hobbes’ lips twitched.
His face was as stiff as a plank, forcibly swallowing down these words.
He said, “Of course not.
It’s only due to my belief that young men should endure more difficulty to gain more experience.
Okay, we’ve come to an understanding; you can go back and reflect on it.”

With that, Hobbes carried his photon computer and leather briefcase, turning heel and leaving.
It was probably the most robust his gait has been since he entered his later years.

 

He walked very quickly, disappearing around the turn of the road in the blink of an eye, then striding past two villas before going inside, vanishing from their vision.

Yan Suizhi calmly walked back to the car.
Fizz was wonderstruck, staring with her mouth agape at him for a beat.
She asked carefully, “Have you already found your next job?” 

Yan Suizhi, “???”

“Why do you say that?”

Ms Fizz, “Oh.
Nothing much.
I thought that you no longer wish to see a future in Southcross Law Firm anymore.”

Yan Suizhi’s eyes curved, thinking to himself that he was never a part of Southcross in the first place; if it weren’t for a certain mint essence determined not to care about him right now, he would have brushed off his ass and left as soon as he was done reading the case file. 

Although Ms Fizz had her heart in her mouth from listening to what Yan Suizhi said earlier, she ended up letting out a long exhale.
“But hearing you go off like that felt pretty good.
Take care, I’ll be heading home first.”

“Can Lawyer Gu’s villa be seen from Hobbes’ side?” Yan Suizhi asked again.

“Shouldn’t be able to, unless he gets so restless at night that he decides to camp in his yard and stare over here,” Fizz said.
“Relax, it’s rather unlikely.”

Yan Suizhi nodded, setting his mind at ease as he entered Gu Yan’s villa. 

After entering he turned on the living room lights, then checked his smart device.
He thought to himself, this guy is just as petty, but how was it that Hobbes came off so annoying, whereas Gu Yan came off likeable?

He stopped hesitating, sending a message to Gu Yan: [I bumped into Hobbes just now.
Ms Fizz acted just as if she had seen a ghost.]

Something in there obviously managed to jab a certain spot in Gu Yan; after a while, the message interface that had not moved the entire day finally broke its stillness: [Ignore him.]

Professor Yan finally found an entry point.
He said, [I can’t just do that.
At least until you’re past the public notification period.] 

This time, Gu Yan’s response was swift: [Are you moving out because of Hobbes?]

Am I?

Yan Suizhi’s fingers paused.
He replied, [Something like that.
Back then, didn’t you say that I was only temporarily staying here for a couple of days? You were pretty unhappy about it too.]

This time, Gu Yan once again gave no response. 

Yan Suizhi, “???”

He read the message over and over several times, but couldn’t figure out what he said wrong nor which leaf he pinched.

 

Whatever, screw you.

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Irate, Yan Suizhi took off his smart device, threw it onto the coffee table, then borrowed Gu Yan’s kitchen to whip up a simple meal. 

Although he was regularly discourteous with his words and oftentimes shameless, when it came to some aspects, he would always be sure not to cross the line, maintaining the highest level of politeness.
Whenever he was in the residences of others, he would always be very particular with courtesy, never going in and out like it was his own home no matter how close their relationship was.

And here, Gu Yan was an exception.

Another exception again…

Of the many years that he had lived, the number of exceptions were few and far between.
Yet now, the vast majority seemed to fall on Gu Yan. 

Gu Yan’s message was once again late in coming.
Yan Suizhi even took the effort to check the interstellar clocks for the time in the Helan system.
It happened to be afternoon at the place where Gu Yan was for his business trip; who knew if he was busy or something else.

He was purportedly doing a favour for a friend this time, and the case he was handling wasn’t criminal but civil.
Lawyers in the alliance weren’t strictly classified by the cases they handled.
A criminal lawyer would occasionally have to handle a few civil cases as well; similarly, civil lawyers would also occasionally be pulled over to take on a few criminal cases.
It was just that this number was few; after all, people usually picked suitable lawyers according to the case.
Whenever such incidents happened, it would usually be as a favour between friends.

That friend of Gu Yan’s was a minority shareholder of a private hospital in Helan.
Recently, the major shareholder of the hospital was getting discontent with the split and brashly moving to shrink the rights of the minority shareholders.
Gu Yan’s trip this time was to help his friend in negotiations.

It wasn’t as if Gu Yan could casually chat on his smart device at the negotiation table. 

Thinking this, Yan Suizhi made a trip up to the loft and washed up first, then nestled in the soft sofa chair by the wall while reading a book.
Then, somehow, he kept feeling very lethargic…

When the smart device on his little finger vibrated, he opened his eyes and took a while to react, then found that he had actually fallen asleep midway reading.

He lazily leaned back in his seat and projected the messaging interface.

During the previous time when he had attempted to change the contact name to something more proper, Gu Yan had closed the interface.
As such, the other party’s contact name was still stuck on the very improper ‘Magnanimous Mint’. 

With this name, Gu Yan responded with two simple words: [I wasn’t.]

What was he not?

Yan Suizhi felt that he was too dazed from sleep and was unable to understand its meaning.

He swiped down, then recalled what he had sent before this. 

-Back then, didn’t you say that I was only temporarily staying here for a couple of days? You were pretty unhappy about it too.

-I wasn’t.

 

He wasn’t unhappy.

What did it mean to tell a blind lie with your eyes wide open? This was it, right there. 

And yet, as Professor Yan looked at the message, the corners of his lips lifted.

Edited by snoflakesun

–

Been lazy to t/n until now but when Yan Suizhi talks about ‘mint essence’, he’s literally talking about Gu Yan being the human incarnation of a mint plant spirit.
Been using essence because I felt the double interpretation of the word works pretty well? Like it gives rise to the delightful peppermint pettymint essence, whilst conveying that he’s the essence of a mint plant. 

Art of mint essence gu yan – link
Line #1: Gu Yan, in the eyes of others
Line #2: Gu Yan, in the eyes of Yan Suizhi
Caption: Dean Yan’s Mint Essence Observation Diary