Courir partout et jouer des rôles mineurs

Chapitre 124

He said he hadn't realized it before, but the influence he had received since childhood had already destined him to deal with all sorts of people, to be involved in politics, and to seek a balance between personal interests and the interests of the people.

Qiu Shanglin said, "I don't ask for anything else. Whether you become a soldier or a general in the future, don't forget to do more practical things for the people, be less greedy, and eat less. On behalf of the people of the whole country, I thank you."

Gu Zhiyuan laughed heartily, teasing her, "I'm not like you, President Qiu. My family isn't well-off. If I want to build a Hope Primary School, I need the resources, don't I?"

Mocha Cat donates funds to Project Hope every year, and Shanglin herself also regularly contributes to charity. She says, "I'm cultivating for my next life."

I do not ask for immense wealth and honor in the next life, but only for peace, joy, and family reunion.

Li Changsheng doesn't cultivate for the afterlife; he cultivates for the present.

Sun Yihan couldn't understand why someone who clearly made a living through art would insist on venturing into the glitz and glamour of the world of fame and fortune. "You paint, I'll manage the business; wouldn't it be better to keep you away from the taint of money for the rest of your life?"

She doesn't understand immortality.

When she tried to reason with him and present the facts to prove that he and Qiu Shanglin were not a good match, Li Changsheng thought, I don't ask for great success in the future. As long as I can stand next to Qiu Shanglin with a respectable status and not be called a gigolo, I will be satisfied. Of course, he can't be considered a gigolo.

Sun Yihan's idea was perfect, but Changsheng shuddered at the thought of spending the rest of his life locked in a studio painting. He preferred to accept the challenge.

Gu Zhiyuan laughed at him, saying, "I thought that when you grew up, you would at least be a powerful underworld boss, if not a warlord in a chaotic era. With one of us in the legitimate world and the other in the criminal world, working together, we would be invincible..."

Xia Lin snatched the phone and started cursing, "Gu Baozi, if you dare say that to my sister, I'll beat you to a pulp!"

Li Changsheng left early and returned late, his dark circles under his eyes becoming increasingly pronounced. Shanglin noticed this and kept it in mind. Though she didn't say anything, she knew perfectly well who Changsheng was working so hard for.

While his peers were spending their university years in internet cafes playing games, chatting, and enjoying romantic moments with their girlfriends, Changsheng entered society early. On one hand, he was influenced by her, but on the other hand, he was also under immense pressure.

Fortunately, even the hardest work has its rest periods. The order was successfully completed, and everyone could finally relax.

Shanglin was enthusiastic about renovating the house, pacing back and forth in the room with a notebook in hand, muttering to himself. Young and energetic, Li Changsheng, who had been sickly and near death, woke up refreshed after a long sleep. He was a professional—though not in interior design, he had learned a great deal from his seniors.

The two walked around the house together.

“This wall isn’t load-bearing; it can be completely demolished,” Changsheng said with a wave of his hand.

Shanglin looked around and said, "The kitchen is inconvenient, let's tear down the wall too!"

"The kitchen wall is load-bearing, so we can't demolish it!"

Shanglin disagreed: "Give it half."

Chang Sheng raised an eyebrow: "Qiu Xia Lin is too tall, should we saw him in half?"

Xia Lin rushed forward anxiously, shouting, "You're trying to rob me and kill me!"

After countless design plans, all three were finally satisfied and ready to hire a construction team to start work. Then Changsheng slapped his forehead: "I forgot, the house isn't ours!"

The three looked at each other in bewilderment.

When asked, the landlord, grimacing, said in a affected tone, "Oh dear, we need a renovation permit to start work. Our neighborhood is very quiet... I'm afraid the neighbors will complain..."

As he stepped out of his house, Xia Lin cursed, "Quiet my ass! At four or five in the morning, old men and women get up to walk their dogs and chat, and their voices are louder than my sister's!"

Shang Lin squinted at him, looking at him dangerously: "What did you say?"

Xia Lin hid behind Chang Sheng: "Be mindful of your ladylike image."

The contract was for two years, but we can't just leave it unresolved.

Changsheng insisted on not using his family's financial assistance, and instead took out all his wages from his internship. The two of them spent the whole night calculating under the lamp, and made countless trips to the building materials market. Finally, they decided to leave the overall layout unchanged, not to demolish the walls or seal the ceiling, but to focus on the soft furnishings.

Changsheng rolled up his sleeves and started moving the refrigerator: "I've asked around, and it's more cost-effective to renovate old flooring than to buy new flooring. Our flooring isn't laminate, and there's no mold inside, so it can be completely renovated. The market price is a little over forty yuan per square meter. I'll sand and plaster it myself, and the contractor will have someone I know do the painting and waxing, so it'll only cost twenty-one yuan per square meter. The living room doesn't need any work, just the master bedroom, and it can be even cheaper."

Shang Lin followed behind, typing away on his small calculator: "Refrigerator, two hundred. I've already arranged with the people at the secondhand market to deliver a wooden sofa set tomorrow. We'll cut the foam ourselves to make the sofa cushions. I'm thinking the factory must have some linen suitable for making sofas. I'll take the measurements, have them make it and send it over. I'll just pay for the materials."

Xia Lin, panting heavily, said, "I mean, do you two have to be this stingy? You're such misers—they'll only pay you ten yuan more for carrying it up, and you're even trying to save ten yuan?" It's making him do all the hard labor, ouch, my back...

Chang Sheng laughed and scolded, "You're eating and drinking here for free, but you still have to do the hard labor and backbreaking work?"

He cried out that he had been tricked.

After finally getting the refrigerator upstairs, Xia Lin plopped down on the floor, panting. Shang Lin returned after looking around all the rooms: "Should we paint the walls or put up wallpaper?"

Chang Sheng pondered for a moment: "Painting is troublesome, and wallpapering is expensive. But wallpapering is easier; the bedroom walls don't need to be touched, only the living room walls. I'll find a few people to come and help this weekend."

Shang Lin frowned: "Why don't we find a professional instead, so we don't owe them a favor?"

Chang Sheng chuckled: "Don't worry, I promise you won't owe me any favors—just treat them to a meal."

Xia Lin shook his head and sighed, "You two are such tightwads, how did you end up together!"

Chang Sheng slapped him on the forehead and wiped the dust off his hands as he did so: "You have to be careful and calculating. How can you call it living if you don't care about the details?"

Xia Lin was speechless: "My sister can just give me a small amount, or you can take out your savings account, how come it's not enough for the two of you to hire a renovation company?"

Chang Sheng smiled leisurely: "Your sister's money is hers. I need to save my money for buying a house, getting married, and raising children!"

"Pshaw, my sister has plenty of houses, why would you need to buy one?"

Changsheng quickly glanced at Shanglin and whispered, "Not necessarily—do I have to marry your sister?"

Xia Lin's eyes widened, and she shouted, "Sister, sister, my brother is disloyal!"

Seeing that he was about to shout, Changsheng quickly covered his mouth, but it was too late, and he felt very guilty.

Shang Lin glanced at them coldly, then smiled sweetly: "Don't be afraid. Brother, his salary is all in my hands. I'll secretly add 20% to the renovation fee, and use that money to help you get married in the future."

Xia Lin couldn't hold it in any longer and rolled on the ground clutching her stomach. Chang Sheng, feeling humiliated and both amused, quickly stepped forward to comfort her. Shang Lin sneered, "Don't be afraid. Whether you marry me or not is another matter. If you succeed in your career and dump me, I'll have to keep some backup plan as compensation for my lost youth, won't I?"

Xia Lin hurriedly shouted, "There's some for me too! Mine for me!"

Changsheng kicked Xia Lin, who clutched his shin and cried out in pain. Changsheng laughed and scolded, "You're so fussy—did you waste your youth? I haven't even asked you for compensation yet. Who avenged you when you lost a fight in junior high? Who made up a lie for you when you got home? Who hid the injury on your face?... When you secretly learned to smoke, who took the blame for you?"

Xia Lin was so frightened that she rushed over and hugged Chang Sheng, pulling him back desperately: "Brother, brother, my dear brother, let's go to the balcony and see if we need anything! We're short on renovation funds, right? I still have some living expenses left, I'll pay, I'll pay!"

Shanglin laughed as he watched Changsheng being dragged away by Xialin to perform a charade.

Changsheng's senior helped him find an acquaintance at a store to buy back a milky-white wallpaper with an invisible pattern at a low price. The acquaintance even helped deliver it to the bus. Amidst the strange looks from the crowd, Changsheng stood calmly by the back door, supporting his precious wallpaper. Shanglin knew that today was the day his baby was due to arrive, so he specially waited at the station. Seeing Changsheng struggling to get off the bus, he ran up to him with joy and laughter, touching the rolled-up wallpaper roll.

Coincidentally, her branch manager, who knew her, also lived nearby. He stared in disbelief as the legendary major shareholder, dressed in a vest, shorts, and flip-flops, smiled and helped Changsheng along the way, humming a tune as they drove off.

He rubbed his eyes a few times and took out his phone to look at the photos in his album.

At the company's annual year-end reception, she wore a little dress custom-made by a top designer from Mocha Design Department, her hair was styled up, she wore long earrings, and a necklace of jewelry that was said to be worth millions around her neck. She smiled and was surrounded by senior executives, listening attentively with a confident expression. It was clearly her.

Mocha Cat Company's Beijing office occupies three entire floors of a building—not leased, but the land belongs to the company and has been contracted to a real estate company for development. All floors are for rent only, not for sale.

The company's major shareholder lives here? He looked up at the old building from the 1990s and thought, "I'm seeing things, definitely!"

Changsheng struggled to carry the load up to the fourth floor, with Shanglin helping him from behind. Shanglin praised the colors and materials, saying that he would definitely thank his predecessor properly once the renovation was finished.

A group of people came over the weekend to help with wallpapering. The big guys were laughing and joking, some calling her "sister-in-law" and others "brother's wife." Some she knew, some she didn't. After introducing themselves, Shang Lin discovered that only a small portion of them were from her school; the majority were students from other schools. She had no idea that Li Changsheng was so busy during his school years that he didn't have time to get to know so many people outside the school.

Chang Sheng shrugged. "The friendships between boys are different from those between you girls."

Playing a game of football is a shared experience, and a few drinks later you're friends.

Pointing to one of the fat guys, he said, "See this fat guy? When Xia Lin first enrolled, he caused trouble for us. I happened to be there when I went to find Xia Lin, and the two of us ganged up on five of him. We beat the fat guy until he was screaming in pain. He insisted on becoming sworn brothers with me, and I couldn't shake him off."

胖子悄悄占到上林身边，说弟妹你别听这厮胡说。我们当时认栽没打过，说好改天再比，谁知当天倒霉，出门遇上了情敌，他们趁火打劫。就那么巧又被这厮撞上，当时心想坏了坏了，嘿，他二话没说上来就帮忙。事后问他，他还挺酷，拉长脸说我揍了你就算和你有交情。

Later, when your brother and I were hosting a party, he suddenly appeared and said that we were all on the same side, so why fight amongst ourselves? I had no intention of being friends with him; he was just being presumptuous!

Changsheng felt ashamed upon hearing this and kept giving the fat man meaningful glances, but the fat man pretended not to see anything.

Shang Lin smiled slightly: "Autumn Forest!"

Qiu Xialin screamed throughout the room as someone secretly twisted his arm.

The fat man grinned and inhaled: "Hey, your girlfriend seems pretty gentle..."

Changsheng whispered: "Tiger mom..."

Suddenly, Shang Lin appeared behind them, looking at them gently. The fat man scratched his head, pretending nothing was wrong, and walked away. Shang Lin asked softly, "Xia Lin's brother..."

Chang Sheng shuddered: "It's not my fault. Fighting is pointless. I stopped playing a long time ago. Well, it's all Xia Lin's fault. You said he was dishonest and brought trouble upon himself, but I couldn't just stand by and watch him get bullied..." It was true, he had stopped fighting a long time ago, but he was actually instigating others to fight.

A short while later, Changsheng limped over to the fat man and asked, "What's wrong?"

Chang Sheng grinned: "It's nothing. I wasn't paying attention when I landed and it got in the way of other people landing."

Luckily, she wasn't wearing high heels today.

They scraped off the old plaster, applied putty, and put on sealant. Although no one had ever done it before, everyone discussed it jokingly and managed to do it quite well. They ordered takeout for lunch, and after eating and resting, they chatted about the mountains and rivers. Xia Lin shared several amusing anecdotes about Li Changsheng's childhood, making everyone laugh and look at Li Changsheng in a new light. Changsheng wasn't to be outdone, and the two brothers started teasing each other, revealing each other's shortcomings. This led Shang Lin to uncover several unsolved mysteries from years ago, which turned out to be things the two of them had been covering up together.

As the sun began to set, the project was mostly completed. Changsheng clapped his hands and invited everyone to dinner, telling them to choose any place they wanted—after all, Qiuxia Lin was treating.

After some back and forth, the bunch of good-for-nothings suggested going to the night market for barbecue and draft beer. Changsheng laughed and scolded them for letting Qiu Xialin get away with it.

We sat down at a barbecue stall in the night market in a large group. Since there were universities nearby, the crowd was full of college students. People kept standing up to greet us, and others joined in. Some people had a few drinks and then left, but it was still very lively.

Shang Lin watched with a smile as they boasted, chatted, and exposed each other's shortcomings, hurling insults and cracking melon seeds and peanuts all over the ground.