In a Relationship With the Rugged Guy Next Door - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: “You’re this tired and it can still perk up?”

Editor-in-Chief Xie Yan didn’t show up in the morning. Du Li said he had business, though she didn’t specify what.

Du Li took Chen Jingming to collect some office supplies and gave him a tour of the building. Most departments had moved elsewhere, leaving the halls quiet and peaceful. Since Du Li still had her regular duties at the Media Center, she wouldn’t be in this office all day.

“If I’m out and Teacher Xie isn’t here, you’ll be on your own. Message me if you need anything, or come find me in the main office,” Du Li instructed, before moving on to office logistics. “I’ll take you to the administrative office to sign your contract this afternoon.”

Jingming’s primary task was to organize the text, video, and audio data collected over the past six months into usable documents. He also needed to select and annotate photos for the magazine from a pool of tens of thousands.

It didn’t sound difficult—until he watched a few interview clips. He scratched his head so much his hairstyle was ruined.

He couldn’t understand a single word!

Folklore was scattered across different regions, and Changxi was a province with many ethnic minorities. Since many intangible cultural heritages struggled to turn a profit, few young people studied them. The authentic successors were mostly elderly. The “younger” ones were around fifty; their Mandarin was non-standard but intelligible if one listened closely. However, many elders who had lived in the mountains their entire lives spoke no Mandarin at all. To Jingming, who had been away for years, it sounded like a foreign language.

“Is it hard?” Du Li noticed his struggle.

“Yeah. I can’t understand a lot of these interviews,” Jingming admitted.

Du Li was a Changxi native but not from a minority group. she offered a suggestion: “You can ask some elders who know the dialects. I remember your brother’s ranch has plenty of workers who speak Miao and Bouyei.”

Jingming thanked her quickly.

“If all else fails, call the local village cadres,” Du Li added. “But they’re busy, so they might not always have time to help. Preservation is tough work, but there’s no rush. We’ll take it slow.”

…

Before the lunch break, Teacher Xie returned and took them out for a meal. Having worked locally for years, Xie was a true foodie. He led them through narrow alleys into a restaurant hidden inside an old residential building that specialized in Spicy Chicken.

Living in a modern coastal city after his adoption, Jingming had never seen a restaurant inside an old apartment. He found it novel and snapped a few photos to send to Chu Feng.

Chu Feng didn’t reply, so Jingming sent them to Chen Lang. Chen Lang replied instantly: This place is just average. Jingming: [Hammering emoji]

“Can Jingming eat spicy food?” Xie Yan asked. “Probably not,” Du Li chimed in. Xie Yan: “How do you know?” Du Li: “His brother told me. What were we talking about the other day? Anyway, he just mentioned his younger brother can’t handle spice. At the time, I thought, ‘Who asked you?’ Hahaha!”

Jingming was mortified, his ears turning bright red. “I can eat it now. My palate has recovered.”

The restaurant had only one fixed dish: Spicy Chicken. The rest of the menu changed based on seasonal ingredients. This season featured various wild greens. Jingming, a self-proclaimed “tasteless foodie” who loved everything, watched as Xie and Du ordered four dishes.

The signature Spicy Chicken was aromatic and tender; the wild leeks stir-fried with cured meat were savory and bold; the sautéed cabbage hearts were crisp; and the plain sour soup was the perfect palate cleanser.

“You look so thin; I didn’t expect you to eat so much,” Xie Yan remarked. Du Li patted her stomach. “I wasn’t even that hungry, but watching him enjoy it made me eat two bowls.”

Jingming didn’t eat fast. He took slow, quiet bites, never making a mess. In total, he polished off three bowls of rice. He gave an embarrassed smile. “Because it’s too delicious.”

…

In the afternoon, Du Li left for errands, leaving only Jingming and Xie Yan. Xie was selecting drafts and occasionally asked for Jingming’s opinion. Time flew by, and soon it was 4:00 PM.

“Off work!” Xie Yan’s laptop snapped shut. “Let’s go. We hate overtime here. We resist it firmly.”

Jingming looked up from his piles of data, his face slightly oily after hours at the computer. “Okay, Teacher.”

Xie handed him a key. “Open the door yourself from now on.” Jingming nodded obediently. “Okay. Goodbye, Teacher.”

After Xie left, the office fell silent. The windows faced west, overlooking a lush green river. The sunlight dancing on the water was dreamlike. Jingming stood by the window for a while until his phone rang, making him jump. It had been a long time since his phone had rung like that.

But he quickly realized only Chu Feng, Chen Lang, and Xue Dongni had this number. It was Chu Feng.

“Baby, are you off? I’m in your parking lot.”

Jingming quickly packed his things, locked up, and ran down.

“I thought I was taking the bus back?” Jingming said. Chu Feng saw that Jingming was in one piece and looking good, so he relaxed. He put an arm around Jingming’s shoulder as they headed to the car. “It’s your first day. Didn’t you always want me to pick you up on the first day of school when we were kids?”

When Jingming was in elementary school, Chu Feng was already in middle school. Their schedules didn’t match, but on the first day of school or the day before a long break, Jingming insisted on being picked up by Chu Feng. If he couldn’t make it and Mom or Uncle came instead, little Jingming would throw a fit and try to bite people when he got home.

Heaven knows how many times little Jingming had bragged at school that the handsome Chu Feng in the middle school department was his big brother!

Jingming instinctively wanted to argue that he wasn’t an elementary student anymore, but Chu Feng’s tender, limitless pampering was something one couldn’t help but sink into.

Maybe with my brother, I really don’t have to be an adult.

…

Since it was still early, they went to the ranch. Today, the spring-born calves were released to graze for the first time. They weren’t familiar with the surroundings, so they needed supervision. The ranch was perpetually short-handed, so Chu Feng’s work went beyond management.

As they got out of the car, they saw a group of calves grazing leisurely. Some employees were out cutting grass, so Chu Feng told Jingming to play while he cleaned the cow sheds.

“I’ll go too.” “It’s very smelly, Baby.” Jingming had visited the sheds before and found it manageable. “I’m not afraid!”

Seeing his enthusiasm, Chu Feng pinched his cheek with a smile. “Alright. Big Cow and Little Cow, let’s move out.”

They found a pair of rubber boots in the warehouse and rode the electric scooter to the sheds. Today they were cleaning the pens for the cattle nearly ready for market. Two employees were already working.

Jingming thought cleaning the sheds meant just spraying some water, but the waste from adult cattle was massive, and the smell was much stronger in the warm weather. He had been excited at the start, but upon entering, he immediately dry-heaved several times.

Chu Feng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He tried to push Jingming out. “Don’t do it. Go play outside, Baby. You can’t handle this kind of work.”

“No, no!” Jingming held a horse stance to resist. “I can do it!”

An older worker ran over and handed Jingming a mask. “Wear this. It’ll feel better.” Jingming gagged again. “Thanks… hurgh—” “Boss, why’d you bring him here to clean the pens? It’s so dirty,” the worker said. “He insisted,” Chu Feng laughed, looking at Jingming the way one looks at a child trying to wash an adult’s feet but being unable to lift the basin. “It’s an experience. It’s good that he wants to move around.”

Jingming put on the mask and nodded vigorously. “I can do it.”

The manure was shoveled into wheelbarrows and taken to a central pile, where a partner plant would collect it to be dehydrated and turned into organic fertilizer.

“So cow dung makes money too,” Jingming noted after half an hour. He had grown accustomed to the smell and didn’t find it as unbearable. Chu Feng worked quickly. “If handled properly, it’s a treasure. If discharged haphazardly, it pollutes the environment. We can’t be careless.”

After the manure was cleared, they hosed the pens down with high-pressure water. By evening, the cattle were driven back. Jingming was unskilled and ended up with dirt all over his clothes and face. Sweat drenched his hair, and the mask puffed in and out as he panted.

As they left, the worker teased Jingming, asking if he’d come back next time. Chu Feng was busy wiping Jingming’s face with a tissue, laughing. He thought a one-time experience was enough for his “precious” brother.

To his surprise, Jingming took off his mask and smiled brightly. “I’m coming back!”

…

The sun was slowly dipping below the mountain peaks as Jingming and Chu Feng rode back to the dorms to shower. They couldn’t even get in the car smelling like cow manure. Chu Feng grabbed some clothes and told Jingming to shower.

Jingming sat on a small stool, watching the calves line up to head home. The sunset hit the grass, the wildflowers, the calves, and Jingming himself.

It would be nice to live like a cow.

“Let’s go, shower time,” Chu Feng called out.

The dorms didn’t have private bathrooms; everyone used the communal showers at the end of the hall.

“Quickly wash up so we can drive home. Auntie Xiang gave me two fish her husband caught; I’ll cook them for you,” Chu Feng said, locking the bathroom door behind them.

This meant they were showering together. Outside the house, Jingming felt very awkward. Chu Feng, acting business-like, stripped Jingming of his shirt and pants.

The communal bathroom had four showerheads. Chu Feng adjusted the water temperature and started scrubbing Jingming.

“I can do it myself, Brother,” Jingming said, shrinking back. “I’ll do it.” Chu Feng squeezed out some shampoo to wash Jingming’s hair. Jingming had to let him; if he didn’t, he knew Chu Feng would start a dramatic routine about not being forgiven.

“Turn around,” Chu Feng said.

Jingming turned to face him. At home, the bathroom lighting wasn’t great, and steam made things blurry. But the communal bathroom was large and well-lit. When Jingming looked down, he saw Chu Feng’s… “big guy.”

His hair is so thick.

The thought sent a jolt like an electric current through Jingming’s body. Terrified, he squeezed his eyes shut. But with his eyes closed, he remembered Chen Lang’s warning about “ending up in the hospital.”

This is not right.

“Oops,” Chu Feng said, soaping Jingming up. He noticed ‘Little Jingming’ had perked up. “You’re this tired and it can still perk up? Impressive.”

Jingming let out a loud yell and spun around to face the wall, screaming in despair: “Don’t talk about it!!”

In his rush to turn, he knocked the soap out of Chu Feng’s hand. It slid right to the tips of Jingming’s toes. Instinctively, he reached down to pick it up, but the moment he started to bend over, he snapped upright.

Chu Feng: “What’s wrong?” Chen Jingming: “I’m not picking it up! You pick it up!”