LA ⋆ Chapter 7: His Appearance

# AMENDED TRANSLATION

Cheng Ai made inquiries about Sheng Yao's school and major, then applied to become a part-time postgraduate student in a different major at the same university. Whenever he had free time, he would wander around campus and audit some of Sheng Yao's philosophy lectures.

What surprised Cheng Ai was that Sheng Yao was actually studying philosophy.

He worked to pay for his tuition. If his family circumstances were decent, then working was labor practice, a matter of putting in the effort. If his family circumstances weren't so good, then he was a youth chasing his dreams, and his dream was humanity's finest hour. No matter which it was, Cheng Ai held Sheng Yao in the highest regard.

When Sheng Yao went to the cafeteria to eat, Cheng Ai would follow and get the same dishes, blend into the crowd, and sit down far away in a spot where he could face Sheng Yao.

So this was what watching a food mukbang felt like. Cheng Ai had never understood before what was so interesting about watching other people eat.

How could he eat with such relish? He seemed to really like eating steamed buns. The cafeteria's steamed buns cost eighty cents each, were incredibly dense, and Sheng Yao usually bought at least two. He could make everything taste like a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast.

Cheng Ai also started eating steamed buns. And honestly, steamed buns were unpretentious food, not particularly delicious, but even without an appetite you could eat them, and they were quite filling.

The school got a new principal. The new official took office and added quite a few new facilities for the students.

Many tables and chairs were placed in the empty space at the corner of the teaching building, expanding the study area. Studying here in the evening was especially conducive to focus. Summer nights, lights, books, complete silence.

Cheng Ai discovered by accident that Sheng Yao liked to read at the corner. Cheng Ai normally wouldn't appear at school in the evening, but that day he happened to stay to talk to his thesis advisor about his proposal. Part-time postgraduate programs might be watered down, but you still had to go through the motions.

After finishing the conversation, Cheng Ai came downstairs and discovered Sheng Yao sitting with a female classmate by the railing. They had moved their chairs and were sitting with their backs to the corridor, facing the railing.

Cheng Ai stopped in his tracks, then calmly sat down nearby, pulling out a book and pretending to read.

The female classmate's voice drifted over on the night breeze: "Sheng Yao, I want to tell you something."

"Go ahead."

"I like you."

"…"

The book fell to the ground with a clatter, and Cheng Ai discovered two things.

The first thing was that he probably didn't just think of Sheng Yao as a spiritual dining companion. He liked Sheng Yao.

This feeling was secretive and deceptive, somewhat like how he felt when Chen Siyu first told him he had a girlfriend. They were very, very good friends, could eat together and play together, and then suddenly one day, his childhood companion had someone else who was more important. Really, it was all quite normal, except that Cheng Ai still felt as though friendship had developed a crack. Fortunately, though he didn't have much in the way of feelings, he had plenty of work, and work could dilute everything.

Despite the similarity in feeling, Cheng Ai keenly discovered that he harbored no hostility toward Chen Siyu's girlfriend, but toward this girl confessing to Sheng Yao, he bristled with all his spines. He even suddenly had a mad impulse to go kiss Sheng Yao right then and there.

This thought was too abstract. Of course Cheng Ai wouldn't actually do it. But the thought itself was enough to make him feel his heart racing and his flesh prickling.

Cheng Ai couldn't imagine that in the future, when eating, he would see Sheng Yao using chopsticks to feed meat to this girl.

Fortunately, there was a second thing: Sheng Yao's brain seemed to work in a rather unusual way.

After the book fell, the girl noticed Cheng Ai's presence and wanted to pull Sheng Yao away, but Sheng Yao said he still wanted to read.

The girl felt somewhat embarrassed and asked quietly: "So what do you think about what I just told you?"

This European-style high-ceilinged teaching building had an echoing quality, and no matter how softly she spoke, Cheng Ai could hear it.

Sheng Yao said: "Schopenhauer said that mankind has only one innate error, which is the belief that the purpose of human life is to achieve happiness. I think Schopenhauer was right."

The girl wiped her sweat, looking like she was struggling to hold back: "Speak normally."

"I don't date."

"If you don't date, just say so directly. Why are you spouting philosophy?"

Sheng Yao tilted his head and paused: "I hope you find someone who will make you happy."

The girl stood up, took a deep breath, then gathered her things and left the teaching building. After she was gone, Sheng Yao lifted his head from his book and stared blankly in the direction she had left.

It wasn't until later, when Sheng Yao took the MBTI test after starting work, that Cheng Ai vaguely understood Sheng Yao's thought process at the time. Sheng Yao was an INTP. He probably had already written an entire thesis in his head and output the single sentence that best represented his core viewpoint, but to anyone who hadn't read that thesis, he just seemed sick in the head.

That was the first time Cheng Ai saw a girl sitting next to Sheng Yao, and also the last.

Cheng Ai wrote down that sentence, went back, and bought the complete works of Schopenhauer. He made seven attempts and retreated seven times, but still only got through the first sentence of the first chapter of the first volume: the world is my representation.

Whether he understood it or not, the sentence Sheng Yao had replied with to the girl was enough to make clear that he had little interest in pursuing the things that bring ordinary people pleasure. Things like love, for instance. Or happiness.

Cheng Ai wasn't sure how much of his liking for Sheng Yao was genuine, nor was he sure whether, if rejected, he would have the drive to pester him relentlessly. Was romantic love the only form of pursuit available? Could they have a more stable relationship?

Days passed as usual. Cheng Ai took no action, still going to school to eat whenever he had free time.

Sheng Yao seemed to have worked through nearly every work-study position on campus: dishing out food in the cafeteria, organizing books in the library, cleaning out the animal facility. Labor practice didn't require this much grinding, and no one would eat plain steamed buns day after day.

Was he really a youth chasing his dreams?

Cheng Ai realized that Sheng Yao must be short on money.

Just as Cheng Ai was thinking about how to provide some higher-paying part-time opportunities, the season of flamboyant flowers arrived, and Sheng Yao graduated.

Cheng Ai had a sudden inspiration. The most stable form of relationship had appeared. If he became his boss, then barring any accidents, he could bind him until age sixty-five.

Cheng Ai opened HR accounts across the various divisions of the group and camped out on the job recruitment app front lines. Hard work pays off. Sheng Yao submitted an application. Cheng Ai immediately contacted Sheng Yao while simultaneously filing a transfer request.

Spring was in the air, spring was in the air.