Mr. Yuan is Always Unhappy - Chap 17
Edited by Yummers
The current apartment that Yuan Rui lived in was arranged by his company. The apartment was in a very good spot, many people from the same industry lived near him. In Yuan Rui’s apartment complex alone, an Olympic champion lived below him. While the top man of reality shows, Liang Xi, and the acting king, Bai Tu, both lived above him.
He would often meet the champion in the elevator when he was taking his kid out to play. He was a pretty friendly guy and his kid was cute as well. But he hadn’t been able to see his upstairs neighbors that much. Not everyone worked a 9-5 schedule, so it wasn’t easy to see others.
It was quite a coincidence that just after he’d finished shooting the commercial under Bai Tu’s endorsement today, he met Bai Tu on the ground floor when he returned that evening.
Bai Tu was in a very casual outfit without wearing anything to especially hide his identity. He had a leash tied onto two Chow Chows. It seemed like he had just come back from walking his dogs.
Yuan Rui thought inside, Oh my god, he’s so handsome! Both him and his dogs are so handsome!
He really wanted to go ask for a signature. Ever since he had moved here and realized that Bai Tu lived above him, he’s been wanting to ask, but it’s been almost half a year and he still hasn’t gotten one. But he was also too embarrassed. He hid behind the car, not wanting to show himself. Compared to a C-list celebrity like him, Bai Tu was so much more influential.
Zhao Zhengyi stood beside the car, hopelessly disdained at his action.
When the two dogs saw Zhao Zhengyi, their tails instantly wagged like crazy. Especially the bigger one, it looked like it was going to break its waist as it tried to jump on Zhao Zhengyi for a kiss.
Bai Tu pulled them back. He greeted humbly, “Xiao Zhao, are you working?”
Zhao Zhengyi replied, “I was taking Yuan Rui home, I’m going to be off work really soon.”
Upon having his name called, Yuan Rui poked his head out from behind the car. He thought in shock, Oh god, mighty lord Zhao Zhengyi!
Bai Tu smiled at him. “Hello.”
Yuan Rui immediately flushed red. He went over cautiously, and spoke nervously, “Hello, I’m Yuan Rui, the one who lives in 1902, we’ve met before. I’m your fan, I really really really like you—and your movies.”
“I also really like to watch your shows.”
Yuan Rui thought to himself, The acting king’s being too humble. How could he possibly watch variety shows? They’re so superficial.
Bai Tu added on, “Long Legged Tiny Hamster.”
Yuan Rui’s eyes widened.
He always put a lot of effort into his performances on those shows. When it came to eating competitions, his cheeks would puff up into two little bumps from him stuffing his mouth with food while his sparkly eyes roamed around to see if the others were done eating yet. The editor then added a hamster filter for him, along with his super long legs, all his Weibo fans started calling him Long Legged Tiny Hamster. Slowly, the subtitles went along the tide and added the “Long Legged Tiny Hamster” nickname to him.
Yuan Rui was so happy he could fly. Bai Tu really did watch his shows! The acting king was so down to earth!
Then, he also felt embarrassed. That meant Bai Tu had also seen all of his extremely dumb sides on the show.
He went into the car to get a pen and notebook to ask Bai Tu for a signature. Zhao Zhengyi held onto the dogs as Bai Tu signed for him, he even added a little note for him.
Bai Tu then said goodbye to them and went upstairs with his dogs.
Yuan Rui held onto the notebook, squealing excitedly. “I got it! I have to post this on Weibo! I can’t hold it anymore! I’ll literally die if I don’t show this off!”
“……”
Yuan Rui asked with his shiny eyes, “Did you also know Bai Tu? Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“I used to work with Liang-Ge and they’re…good friends.”
“Oh, is that so,” Yuan Rui said with realization. “I think they both live on the 22nd floor.”
Zhao Zhengyi coughed. “Yuan-Ge, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading home.”
Yuan Rui held the notebook in his embrace like a treasure, walking home joyfully.
This morning, he had left too early and didn’t get a chance to clean. Once he opened the door, he saw Zheng Qiuyang with his sleeves rolled up, mopping the floor. He was suddenly shocked. “Stop it, put it down and let me do it.”
Zheng Qiuyang replied, “There’s no need, I’ll be done soon.”
Yuan Rui stood at the doorway, watching him with a guilty face.
Zheng Qiuyang straightened up, he spoke with a smile on, “What are you doing? This isn’t as tiring as it looks anyway. When you’re busy with work in the future, I can always do these things too.
Yuan Rui placed the notebook on the showcase, then took large strides over. He hugged Zheng Qiuyang’s waist, touched. “You’re the best.”
“……”
Yuan Rui took in a deep breath, as if he’d just made a great decision. “I’ll buy a mopping robot later, you can stop now. Go wash your hand and take a break, I’ll do the rest. You won’t have to do this again either.”
Zheng Qiuyang didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “There’s no need to buy it. Our house isn’t that big either, I’ll get this done in just a few minutes.”
Yuan Rui rolled his sleeves back down. “You’re an artist. Your hands are for designing, how can I let you do this? I have the money, we’re buying it.”
Zheng Qiuyang spoke helplessly, “Yuan Xiao Rui, you’re spoiling me too much.”
Yuan Rui took the mop to start moping, he spoke very naturally, “I like you, so of course I have to spoil you.”
Zheng Qiuyang couldn’t hold in his laughter, he felt his heart being overwhelmed by sweetness.
He saw the notebook on the shoe case and asked, “What is this? Want me to take it in for you?”
Yuan Rui suddenly remembered. He tossed the mop aside, yelling, “Don’t touch! I got it!”
“……”
Yuan Rui ran over to take the notebook as he ran back into the bedroom with it in his embrace. Zheng Qiuyang followed to see him laying the notebook beneath the pillow.
Zheng Qiuyang was humored, “Is that your diary? What did you write that you can’t show me?”
“It’s not a diary. I’ll show you later, wait until I finish mopping and wash my hands clean.”
Zheng Qiuyang provoked, “Can’t I take a look by myself?”
Yuan Rui was a bit hesitant, he said unwillingly, “Well…you can take a look first too.”
“I was just teasing you, let’s look at it together later.”
He was guessing there to be things like a bonus pay slipped in that notebook, causing Yuan Rui to treasure it so much. But when Yuan Rui finally opened the book, along with his own sound effect of “dan dan dan”, he exclaimed ecstatically, “Look! Bai Tu’s signature for me!”
“……”
Yuan Rui read out loud joyfully, “Little Hamster Yuan Rui, I hope you will bring everyone even more happiness, Bai Tu! Look, look! Bai Tu has seen my shows, he knows that I’m the Long Legged Tiny Hamster!”
Zheng Qiuyang was jealous. “The acting king’s handwriting isn’t that spectacular after all.” He reached his hand over, wanting to grab the notebook.
Yuan Rui instantly backed away, he warned, “Only look, don’t touch itttt! What if it gets dirty?”
Zheng Qiuyang didn’t know what to say. He thought “Didn’t you just say you were going to spoil me because you like me?!”
Yuan Rui laid the notebook flat on the table. He took out his phone to take pictures of the signature. After he took a few pictures, he thought that they didn’t look right, he went to find a neat tablecloth to lay out for a few more pictures. Then, he went to ask Zheng Qiuyang with his phone, “Which one do you think looks better? I’m posting it on Weibo.”
Zheng Qiuyang randomly pointed without any thoughts.
Yuan Rui looked. “Does this one look good? Why do I feel like the ones with the tablecloth are better?”
Zheng Qiuyang held in his irritation. “Why don’t you just post both of the pictures, both with and without a tablecloth?”
Yuan Rui blinked. “Good idea!”
He sat by the table as he focused on posting the pictures on Weibo. Zheng Qiuyang curled up on the sofa by himself, unhappy. But he couldn’t stop himself from taking out his phone to see what the other was doing either.
Yuan Rui posted 9 pictures of the signature, all taken from different angles. Their tones were even filtered. The post said, “Come and be jealous of me hahaha [Gangnam Style meme].”
Zheng Qiuyang contemplated for a moment, then pressed the repost button. He accompanied it with a heartbroken emoji, waiting for Yuan Rui to see it and come to console him.
Yuan Rui had millions of followers so his post immediately received hundreds of reposts. There was no time for him to see his comment.
Only Fang Shiqing gave it an instant like, adding on the comment, “Hahaha, so who was it that took his first kiss?”
T/N: Bai Tu and Liang Xi are the main couple from another book, titled “Gifting Flowers to Plato” (给柏拉图献花).
The title is a pun on Plato’s name. In Chinese, Plato is Bó Lā Tú (柏拉图). The first character, Bó, is written the same as the “Bai” surname, then you subtract the “Lā” part and you get “Bai Tu”
Plato was an Athenian philosopher and the origin of “Platonic Love”, in their story, Bai Tu has erectile dysfunction due to some personal reasons. Therefore, the “platonic” love. (not a spoiler, this was included in the book’s summary anyway LMAO).
