A CERTAIN SOMEONE ( THE ON1Y ONE )

Chapter 097 - Old Flame

He’s Out on a Business Trip for a Week, Didn’t Manage to Get His Address. How About You Call a Cab to Guangdong to Chase Him?

Jiang Tian drank a little too much tonight too.
That colleague of Sheng Wang had a silver tongue, and managed to contribute 80% of the liveliness for the dinner all by himself. He downed alcohol like water, words like “Top tier talent” “young and accomplished” tumbled easily out of him, tossing out professional lingo one after another. He could easily resume any conversation topic, he could make all sorts of jokes, and chatted all over the place with the glass in his hand.

If it was before, Jiang Tian would have rejected him without a second thought if he wasn’t feeling like drinking. Yet, it seemed like he had forgotten to bring his tongue with him today, he would drink every time the person toasted him, not even bothering with any formalities, straightforward like a machine. He drank until his temples throbbed, but he couldn’t even remember a single character from the person’s name — all he remembered were the parts related to Sheng Wang.

That person said he was rather fated with Sheng Wang: their universities faced each other directly opposite, before graduation, they’d met during school events. While other people were having the time of their lives flaming each other, it was Sheng Wang, the youngest one, who could stay the most composed. He did not talk much, and would watch the fight go down across the other side of the table, occasionally cracking a few jokes now and then.

He even said he remembered this year two boy on the spot. The few girls in his line of profession liked Sheng Wang quite a lot too, thinking that this junior looked handsome and fresh, and rather obedient too; surely it would be fun to tease him. In the end, they found out that there was no way to do so at all — Sheng Wang’s closeness with people stopped at the surface level, the moment the event was over, he was nowhere to be found. He didn’t like to talk on WeChat, nor did he enjoy going out to play — he had the qualities of a workaholic at such a young early age.

Eventually, they became co-workers, and with a second look, he turned out to be a workaholic just as expected. Other than specific days of rest, Sheng Wang was constantly awake no matter the time they looked for him. He was like a spinning top that did not know the meaning of rest, he could live on magic alone.

Jiang Tian listened to those intermittent teasing remarks, and then scenes constantly formed in his mind; some familiar, some strange.

He could imagine Sheng Wang sitting at the edge of the table, the glee of schadenfreude in the corner of his eyes as he watched other people get up in each other’s faces, and then mischievously cut in when he found the chance.
But he couldn’t imagine Sheng Wang being quiet.

His Wang-zai was really quite interesting upon being teased: he would be driven mad, he would be pleased as pie, he liked to forcibly maintain his dignity, but not for too long, and run away on the way laid out for him. He would run not too far before slinking back, tail between his legs. He had a great temper, no matter how long it was since his friend last contacted him, he could chat up a storm with them.
He really did like to chat on WeChat, he also really did like to sleep in.

The colleague said Sheng Wang had developed extremely quickly, and he was ashamed for how inferior he was in comparison. But all Jiang Tian saw was that brilliant and radiant youth encasing himself in layers and layers of shells, sealing all the most genial, the most gentle, the most passionate parts of him away on the most inside. Other people were all praising him, but all he felt was heartache. Later, with the alcohol getting to him, he was hurting all over his body.

The staff in charge of getting in touch with them for the project had arranged a place for them to stay in: right in the school they would be working with, with great conditions. Everyone got a house to themself. Jiang Tian was ushered into the car back to his lodging, and shut his eyes with knitted brows the moment he sat on the backseat.