Sick, absolutely sick.

       Very tacky, very tacky indeed.

       Qian Xiaoke looked at Jiang Tongyan with disdain, “Who did you learn this from?”

       Jiang Tongyan thought: Such high-class words; a kid like you have never heard anyone say them, right?

       He smiled slightly and said proudly, “What? Are you impressed?”

       Qian Xiaoke: Ugh.

       He was vomiting in his heart, but he certainly wouldn’t show it; after all, he needed help at the moment—Qian Xiaoke wanted to take a ride.

       Qian Xiaoke smiled and said, “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare. How could I presume to reach your level?”

       He said with genuine sincerity, “Chairman Jiang, could I catch a ride with you?”

       Jiang Tongyan glanced at him with a look of disdain, “Seeing how pitiful you are, I suppose I can reluctantly agree.”

       The car arrived, and Jiang Tongyan, intentionally wanted to play a trick, slyly pulled up an address on his phone and showed it to the driver. Meanwhile, Qian Xiaoke, feeling overjoyed and unaware, had no idea what he was about to face next.

       Qian Xiaoke rarely took a taxi. After all, as a person who lived a frugal life, he would not spend thirty or forty yuan on a taxi when it only costs eight yuan to take public transportation from the company to home.

       So, when he looked at the unfamiliar street scene, he did not doubt it at all, because he thought—how could the taxi route be the same as the subway route!

       However, no matter how slow Qian Xiaoke was, he found something wrong half an hour later, but it was too late.

       The taxi driver parked the car outside a park, Jiang Tongyan paid the money and got off the car.

       Qian Xiaoke looked at Jiang Tongyan standing outside the car with a blank face, and the other party raised his eyebrows and looked at him, “It’s here, why don’t you get off the car?”

       “What place… is this?”

       Jiang Tongyan thought: I’m not a local, if you ask me, who should I ask?

       “My destination,” Jiang Tongyan said calmly, even though he didn’t know where it was. “It’s fine if you are not getting off. I’m leaving anyway.”

       The driver turned around and asked Qian Xiaoke, “Where else are you going?”

       Qian Xiaoke got scared and got off the bus quickly, jogging to catch up with Jiang Tongyan.

       “Aren’t you going back to the hotel?” Qian Xiaoke asked him, taking out his phone and opening the map.

       One would not know until they see it, and then they would be shocked.

       It was nearly 30 kilometres from this place to his home.

       Qian Xiaoke was struck by lightning!

       “Jiang Tongyan!” Qian Xiaoke stamped his feet, “You did it on purpose!”

       Jiang Tongyan turned around and looked at him with a smile. He suddenly put his arm around Qian Xiaoke’s neck and hooked him over, “What? What did I do? I did ask you before coming, didn’t I?”

       Qian Xiaoke thought about it, and it was right. Strictly speaking, this matter really couldn’t be blamed on others.

       He hated it.

       He felt heartbroken. He was in agony.

       He pouted and started to check the subway route from here to home.

       “But if you are not in a hurry, you can wait for me to go back together.” Jiang Tongyan said, “I just come here to relax and relieve my inner depression. When the depression is gone, I will go back.”

       Qian Xiaoke looked at him suspiciously, “What depression do you need to relieve?”

       “… What do you think?”

       Qian Xiaoke pondered, “Oh, impotence.”

       Then he was knocked on the head by Jiang Tongyan.

       “Can you learn some art of talking?” Jiang Tongyan said to him, “Don’t talk about things that can’t be mentioned!”

       “Okay,” Qian Xiaoke said, “What can be mentioned about you? I will only talk about those thing then.”

       He now wanted to make Jiang Tongyan happy. If the other party became happy, he could go back to the hotel earlier, and he could also get a ride home earlier.

       “I didn’t have anything to mention, just shut up.” Jiang Tongyan truly wished Qian Xiaoke were mute, or that he could be given a cup of poison to silence him forever!

       Qian Xiaoke shut up, but two minutes later, he couldn’t help but speak, “Chairman Jiang.”

       “Speak.”

       “Aren’t you a mysophobe?”

       “What do you care?”

       “No, I mean…” Qian Xiaoke held his schoolbag straps tightly with both hands, “You are a mysophobe. Do you have to hug other people’s necks like this when you relax?”

       This was very ambiguous!

       It was very inappropriate!

       Jiang Tongyan realised he had been wrapping his arms around Qian Xiaoke’s neck. He jumped away as if electrocuted and then took out a tissue and wiped his shirt sleeves in disgust.

       “…You don’t have to do that!” Qian Xiaoke rolled his eyes, “I haven’t said anything yet that you took advantage of me for nothing!”

       Jiang Tongyan snorted coldly, too lazy to say anything more.

       Afterwards, Jiang Tongyan walked around the small lake in the park again and again, and Qian Xiaoke followed behind.

       The night in the park at the end of September was not cold, but there were many naughty children running around like crazy, and Qian Xiaoke felt dizzy.

       “Chairman Jiang, is your heart still depressed?” Qian Xiaoke was tired from walking. After all, he was the type who would never stand if he could sit, and never sit if he could lie down. If it took a thousand years to become immortal while sitting but only five hundred while standing, he would still choose the former without hesitation.

       For a person like that, if he had to walk for half an hour, it would be very deadly!

       Qian Xiaoke felt that he was tired like a dog at this moment. No, a dog might not be tired like this after walking for half an hour!

       Jiang Tongyan looked back at him, “Hey! You’re still here!”

       Qian Xiaoke: Big brother, are you out of your mind?

       “Chairman Jiang,” Qian Xiaoke smiled, “It’s late now. It’s a long way from here to your place. Go back and rest early! I’m thinking about your health!”

       Jiang Tongyan looked at him with a smile, “I thought you had already left on your own.”

       Qian Xiaoke was regretting it. He should have left when he got here just now. He could have gone home from the subway in half an hour.

       He smiled and said to Jiang Tongyan, “Where can I go? You are unfamiliar with the place. I am worried about you!”

       It was definitely impossible to leave now.

       Although Qian Xiaoke was not a person who loved to learn, he had learnt a word a while ago—sunk costs1In economics and business decision-making, a sunk cost is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Sunk costs are contrasted with prospective costs, which are future costs that may be avoided if action is taken.

       He had wasted a lot of time, energy and physical strength on this matter. If he just left, it would be too uneconomical.

       He had to hold it for a little longer.

       Jiang Tongyan was definitely going to go back anyway.

       Jiang Tongyan looked at how Qian Xiaoke was and really felt sympathy.

       He decided to give Qian Xiaoke a chance to perform.

       “My heart is almost fine again,” Jiang Tongyan said, “I’m just a little short of something; maybe someone can help me.”

       “Help? What kind of help? How to help? Let me do it!” As long as he could go home, Qian Xiaoke was willing to serve!

       Jiang Tongyan stood there, with his arms folded in front of his chest, looking very cold and arrogant.

       “How about this, tell me a joke.”

       This was hitting the bullseye! Qian Xiaoke claimed to be a ‘master of cold jokes’, unbeatable in the company, and during summer, everyone would come to him for cold jokes to cool off.

       Qian Xiaoke suddenly had an inspiration, “Xiao Ming asked his father to tell him a story, and his father asked him: Do you want to hear the long one or the short one?”

       Jiang Tongyan looked at him. Qian Xiaoke: “Long one or the short one?”

       “…Long one.”

       Qian Xiaoke cleared his throat, “Once upon a time there was a fly…”

       He took a deep breath, “Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz…”

       “Stop it!” Jiang Tongyan was annoyed by the buzzing, “What about the short one?”

       “Once upon a time there was a fly, buzz… snap!” When Qian Xiaoke said ‘snap’, he raised his hand and slapped Jiang Tongyan in front of him with a showmanship. The sound was crisp and powerful, which scared Jiang Tongyan.

       Jiang Tongyan frowned and looked at him with disdain. After a few seconds, Jiang Tongyan said, “Qian Xiaoke, what does this means?”

       “Ah? Isn’t it funny?”

       “Funny, my ass.” Jiang Tongyan said, “Who do you think you are, trying to be a dad2was referring to how much of a dad joke Qian Xiaoke’s joke was?”

       Qian Xiaoke could swear to heaven that he really didn’t mean it.

       Just like that, Chairman Jiang’s mood became worse, so he took Qian Xiaoke to walk around the lake for more than half an hour.

       Qian Xiaoke’s ‘fitness’ plan for the whole year was completed.

       It was great.


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