Really grown up
Song Shuyang felt that Jin Zhou was simply unreasonable.
He just wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to enrich his life experience. For ordinary people, it would be difficult to even get a job at such a famous hotel. He would definitely regret it for the rest of his life if he missed this opportunity.
But Jin Zhou insisted on asking him to go out alone with Peng Fan.
He didn't want to argue in the store, so he endured it until he got home and protested to Jin Zhou: "How can Brother Fan compare with someone named Han?"
"How many days have you known him? Do you understand him? Song Shuyang, why do you always trust others so easily?"
Jin Zhou grabbed his wrist and pressed him against the door. "Do you know you have a boyfriend? How can I accept that you're going to such a faraway place to spend a month with a single man?"
"Why do you have to treat everyone as an imaginary enemy?" Song Shuyang shook off his hand, his eyes stubborn. "I've come this far, and you're still doubting me all the time. Does this mean I can't make friends anymore? I can't go out with friends alone anymore?"
The atmosphere was frozen to the freezing point, both of their chests were heaving violently, trying hard to restrain themselves from saying anything too hurtful.
In fact, these problems have always existed, but both sides have been enduring them until they finally broke out.
Song Shuyang's personality meant that no matter how much he loved Jin Zhou, he would never revolve around him alone.
Now he is still on campus, the interpersonal relationships around him are relatively simple, and he does not have to consider too many practical factors, so he can focus most of his energy on Jin Zhou, but he always has to go out of the campus and get in touch with society, and his first social practice has made Jin Zhou unacceptable before it even started.
It was not until now that he finally understood why Xiaobai wanted to leave.
Xiaobai came back to see them once on Christmas Day, but later left resolutely. He took a deep breath and said, "I don't want to develop a relationship with you like Xiaobai and Sister Ying. Jin Zhou, I promise you, there will be nothing between him and me."
But Jin Zhou couldn't even bear to hear words like "I and him".
He couldn't accept being classified as the third person.
But he also knew better than anyone that Song Shuyang needed to grow and gain experience. If he really only interacted with him without engaging in normal social interaction, his personality would become unhealthy in the long run.
Some owners of large birds will clip their wings to prevent the birds from escaping, making them unable to fly, but Jin Zhou does not want to take such extreme measures unless it is absolutely necessary.
His desire for control has reached another more terrifying level, not limited to forcing Song Shuyang to do what he wants him to do.
He wanted Song Shuyang to do it willingly.
Now it seems that under Peng Fan's guidance, Song Shuyang has developed a yearning for a wider world, and he wants to rebel.
Jin Zhou acquiesced for a moment, and finally compromised, "I won't stop you from following him, but I must go with you."
"So my mom will have to celebrate the New Year alone this year?"
"I can't care less," Jin Zhou suddenly hugged him into his arms, "Zizi, don't leave me alone, okay? If you want to go somewhere farther, go ahead, but you must take me with you. I can't accept you being alone with another person. I'll go crazy."
Song Shuyang felt that Jin Zhou had already taken a big step back, so there was no need for him to hold on any longer. Besides, he also wanted to spend the New Year with Jin Zhou. He slowly raised his hands and hugged him, "Okay, but you have to promise me that you won't get jealous all the time."
The matter was just passed by without any hesitation. After the New Year's Day, Song Shuyang faced the dreaded final week. He had eleven courses to test for this semester, and the test time was compressed into two weeks, which means he had to test one course per day on average. The pressure was quite high.
For some reason, ever since he and Jin Zhou had a fight over strength, Peng Fan had become even more enthusiastic in tutoring him. He was so enthusiastic that he felt a little nervous. He wondered if Peng Fan really had feelings for him like Jin Zhou said.
He really didn't know much about Peng Fan's private life. He only knew that he was single and didn't even know whether he liked men or women.
Most straight men couldn't accept homosexuality, but Peng Fan hadn't shown any strange expression after learning about his relationship with Jin Zhou, which made him wonder, could it be that Peng Fan was also...
He felt that he had to find time to ask him indirectly. If he really was like that, then Song Shuyang would have to rethink Peng Fan's motives for taking him to Beijing.
Between asking direct questions and observing silently, Song Shuyang chose to ask questions. While Jin Zhou was not in the store, he went into Peng Fan's office under the pretext of asking for advice.
He pulled up a stool and sat down. Peng Fan asked him, "How many exams have you finished?"
"Two subjects. Microeconomics tomorrow."
Peng Fan actually smiled at him for the first time. "Are you confident? Microeconomics is quite difficult. I only scored over 80 points on the exam that year."
Song Shuyang's heart was beating fast when he smiled at him.
He stammered, "It's alright, um...Brother Fan, why do I rarely hear you talk about your college days?"
"When I was in college? There's nothing much to talk about. Just the dorms, classrooms, library, cafeteria, and quadrangle activities."
"Didn't you have a relationship in college?"
Peng Fan paused as he adjusted his glasses.
Not knowing what he was thinking about, he raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said, "I dated someone, but we broke up after graduation."
Song Shuyang was in great torment. How could he be so good at asking questions, especially when facing a business elite like Peng Fan? He was already nervous to death before he even asked anything.
"Then your... girlfriend should be pretty, right?"
Peng Fan raised his eyes and looked at him straight, "How do you know it's your girlfriend?"
Song Shuyang was so scared that he ran away. He ran out of the store in one breath, holding his chest and gasping for breath.
Jin Zhou just happened to be driving back, carrying two large bags in his hands. He winked at Song Shuyang and asked, "Are you welcoming me so warmly?"
Song Shuyang felt extremely guilty. Curiosity killed the cat. Now that he knew such a big secret, if he told Jin Zhou, Jin Zhou would definitely be jealous and would not allow him to go for internship with Peng Fan again. If he didn't tell him, and kept the secret, his crime would be even more serious if it was exposed.
I should have known better than to ask.
He eagerly took the things from Jin Zhou's hand and said, "Haha, I'm worried that you'll get tired."
Whenever Song Shuyang saw Jin Zhou, he felt more guilty than a cheating husband seeing his wife. He was not the kind of person who had no sense of boundaries even though he was in a relationship. At the beginning, he really regarded Peng Fan as his mentor. If he had known that he had the same idea about him, he would definitely have kept his distance from him, let alone agreed to the internship.
Why do you like him even though he’s a man? Is he some kind of charmer?
And the incidence of gays around him is too high!
Song Shuyang never thought that being too popular would become a trouble one day. He was so afraid to sleep with Jin Zhou because he was keeping such a big secret, for fear that he would reveal it in his sleep.
In great distress, he could only ask Guo Zixiu for help: "Guo Zi, if someone likes you but hasn't confessed to you, and you have to date him, what would you do in this situation?"
Guo Zixiu was silent for a moment, picked up the pen as a cigarette, and took a puff with a vicissitudes of life on his face.
"Yangyang, you have a family now, forget our past."
"...Please stop imagining things, Jin Zhou and I have a good relationship."
"Oh, I thought you had changed your mind about me," Guo Zixiu moved a stool and sat down at his seat. "What's wrong? Are you being targeted by a man again?"
Song Shuyang leaned over the table with a bitter face, "What is it about me that attracts men? Can't I change it?"
"Maybe it's because you're more of a straight man."
"What's so attractive about this?" Song Shuyang was stunned. "If you say it's because I'm good-looking, I can accept it."
"That's one aspect. She's good-looking, has a somewhat straightforward temperament, can play musical instruments, and has a clean social circle. She's a perfect match for gay men."
This sentence was like a thunderbolt that struck Song Shuyang so hard that he was burnt on the outside and tender on the inside.
Finally, Guo Zixiu gave him a suggestion, "You and your brother should deliberately act a little closer in front of that person. Normally, anyone who isn't too thick-skinned would back off after seeing your brother's condition."
Song Shuyang thought it made sense and adopted it.
So in the following days, whenever Song Shuyang didn't have exams, he would run to the store and show off his love to Jin Zhou, and deliberately show off in front of Peng Fan. However, he found that the effect was not significant. Peng Fan didn't even look at him. Instead, Jin Zhou developed a bad habit of kissing him every time he saw him, which made his face red for several minutes a day.
Song Shuyang found that his little tricks were completely useless in front of Peng Fan, so it was better to explain it to him directly.
He planned to wait until all the exams were finished and then find a day to ask Peng Fan out for a private talk.
Helios is also doing some year-end summary work. Due to unstable business in the past few months, it has only barely achieved a balance between income and expenditure, and is still far from fully recovering the invested funds.
When Peng Fan called everyone together for the year-end summary meeting, Song Shuyang also participated. He put forward an idea that had been brewing in his mind for a long time.
"I think we still need to add a dance floor," Song Shuyang showed everyone the private messages in the background of his account. "Everyone feels that the current atmosphere is lacking. Just us performing on stage won't attract many customers. We need to get them involved."
Jiang Ying objected, "Opening a nightclub near the university town would easily lead to reports. Putting aside other things, the leaders at your school wouldn't approve of this."
Song Shuyang curled the corners of his lips and kept it a secret, "I didn't say I wanted to open a nightclub."
He sent the PPT he had made to Peng Fan and projected it on the big screen. As it played, he explained, "Manager Peng has already finalized the procedures and systems. Next year, Jin Zhou, Ying Jie, and Croissant can dedicate time to making original music. Why don't we do a livehouse format every Friday and Saturday, charging a per-person admission fee, with booths and bar counters charged separately."
"Of course, we'll continue operating as normal for the other four days. We can show previews of that week's live shows on stage. Once we've almost recovered enough funding, we can invite some famous bands to perform. What do you think?"
After he said this, the office was quiet for a long time, so long that he began to feel uneasy.
Jiang Ying frowned and said, "This model is too risky. Have you ever thought about what would happen if no one buys our idea? We haven't made much of a name for ourselves yet, and we rely entirely on Friday and Saturday traffic to make money. If we switch to charging admission, we might not even make that much money."
Jin Zhou didn't say much, just presided over the meeting and said, "Let's vote by raising our hands. The five of us will count as two votes, and the others will have one vote. Those who agree, raise your hands."
Song Shuyang looked up and saw that except for Jin Zhou and Croissant, most people did not raise their hands.
He knew that such reform was indeed risky and relied too much on the strength and personal charm of the band members.
But he had this confidence in everyone. Even if they really failed, the worst that could happen was to go back to the previous model and start over. He believed that Jin Zhou could do it.
Jiang Ying counted, "Including you, sixteen votes to seventeen. The minority obeys the majority. Let's put the reform issue aside for now."
"I haven't voted yet." Peng Fan spoke at the critical moment.
Song Shuyang immediately became nervous.
In his impression, Peng Fan has always been a serious and cautious person, and he would not agree to such a risky move.
But what was unexpected was that Peng Fan actually raised his hand and said, "I agree with Xiao Song's idea. The overall environment is already like this. Not making a difference is no different from waiting for death."
Jin Zhou narrowed his eyes imperceptibly. "In that case, let's do as Song Shuyang said. I'll find someone to renovate it, and we'll start operating according to this model after the New Year."
Everyone had left, and only Song Shuyang and Jin Zhou were left in the office. His breathing was still trembling.
For him, proposing a plan that would determine the life or death of a store in front of so many people was both novel and thrilling.
Jin Zhou reached out and held him to sit on his lap, then lowered his head and kissed his forehead, "Zizi is great."
"Did I act well just now?" He finally relaxed in his boyfriend's arms. "I was so nervous."
"Very presentable, very boss lady style."
Song Shuyang pinched his face and said, "Get lost, I'm the boss's dad."
Jin Zhou reached out to tickle him. After a while, Song Shuyang begged him to stop and rubbed against him in his arms.
"Jin Zhou, actually, I didn't apply for marketing in the first place because I liked it. Can you guess why?"
"Hmm? I can't guess."
Song Shuyang smiled sheepishly, "Because I wanted to get into a better university than yours, but my score wasn't high enough, so I was assigned to this major."
Unexpectedly, I hit upon the jackpot and actually found some fun in learning. I was also able to assist Jin Zhou's career at the same time.
He actually has no idea what the situation will be like next year. It is more likely that his proposal will cause Helios to go bankrupt. However, after experiencing so many things, he believes that people must have the courage to face challenges.
What Peng Fan said was what he wanted to say. The overall environment was getting worse and worse. If he didn't make changes, he would die. He was willing to advance and retreat together with Jin Zhou and take some risks for him.
Jin Zhou rubbed his nose and said, "You've really grown up, my son."
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