Chapter 7 – 13 Million
Novel Title: 长夏醒迟 (Long Summer, Late Awakening)
Author：麦香鸡呢 (McChicken)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 余炀 (Yu Yang -MC/Gong), 靳吾栖 (Jin Wuqi -ML/Shou)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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Yu Yang was on a business trip for over ten days, tasked with opening a new route. Both sides needed to meet and discuss various conditions because the perspective of the cooperating party and their direction in planning benefits were quite meticulous. Yu Yang mentioned several times that he wanted to tear up the contract and leave.
Every day after work, he would contact his father. They would discuss corresponding solutions and continuously modify the details to ensure maximum benefit.
Finally, the contract was signed. Yu Yang called his father before returning to China, saying he was exhausted.
“It’s inevitable. You’re still so young. This was also a chance for you to gain experience. Take a few days to rest when you get back.”
There’s no time for rest. There’s a pile of work waiting for Yu Yang to review and handle when he gets back to the company. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and the ground staff came over to remind him that he could board the plane. Yu Yang then left the VIP lounge with his assistant and secretary.
After getting off the plane in the afternoon, Yu Yang planned to rest for half a day and go to the company tomorrow.
“Take the contract to the company. You all should rest too,” Yu Yang said to his assistant and secretary as he got out of the car.
“Okay.”
Having just taken a shower and lying down on the bed, Yu Yang received a message from his assistant. It explained that there was a charity gala tomorrow night that he needed to attend, where leaders of major groups and celebrities would be present, along with many media outlets.
Yu Yang replied with a simple ‘okay’ and then turned off his phone. These charity galas were for gaining fame and reputation by donating money. He could have just donated money without attending. But since he was now a manager of the company, he needed to show up when necessary.
***
The next day, after finishing his work and preparing to drive to the gala with his assistant, Yu Yang received a call from Cheng Che. He learned that Cheng Che would be attending the gala on behalf of his grandfather.
“How about you? Are you going to bid at the auction or donate money?” Yu Yang asked as he sat in the car.
“I’ll bid,” Cheng Che said. “Anyway, the process assistant will handle it. I’m just there to show my face.”
“If I had known earlier, I would have bought something abroad during my business trip to auction off,” Yu Yang chuckled. “I’ll just be straightforward and offer an amount.”
It was only after Yu Yang got out of the car that he realised Cheng Che had come with Jin Wuqi and they were walking towards the hotel.
The exquisitely gorgeous omega cousin and the tall, cool alpha cousin walked side by side on the red carpet, with the constant click of cameras. Yu Yang guessed that tomorrow’s news headlines would probably belong to the two of them.
This kind of gala is essentially a place for the elite to meet and cooperate with each other. Yu Yang chatted with a few shareholders and clients before feeling tired. He saw Cheng Che walking over and took the opportunity to say goodbye to the others and leave.
“I just finished a business trip yesterday and I’m exhausted,” Yu Yang leaned against a corner where the light couldn’t reach, loosening his tie. “These events are really tough to endure.”
“I noticed there aren’t many items in the auction this time. Most of them seem to be just for direct donations,” Cheng Che said. “We can leave early after the auction ends.”
“Yeah,” Yu Yang nodded, swirling his drink. His gaze then drifted towards the banquet hall.
The lighting was dim, with colourful reflections, but not bright enough to stand out. The room was filled with the sound of clinking glasses and cheerful conversations. It was a glamorous facade of fame and fortune. Yu Yang was truly uninterested.
If there was anything that could catch his attention, it would only be that omega.
Jin Wuqi never wore overly flashy clothes. But even in the simplest shirt and loose suit, he exuded an exquisite charm. His face alone was enough to add a captivating charm to anything mundaneness. He looked casual yet extremely alluring.
He stood among several tall, young alphas, who were almost overly attentive in their conversations with him. Jin Wuqi just smiled lightly, holding his glass. When others raised their glasses to toast with him, he would tilt his glass and gently touch theirs, giving them a smiling glance as he then tilted his head back and took a sip.
It was strange. The lighting was dim. But Yu Yang could see Jin Wuqi’s every move so clearly.
***
The auction began. Yu Yang and Cheng Che sat at the same table, watching the stage with some boredom.
The final item up for auction was a painting, which belonged to Jin Wuqi.
“It was left to my brother by our grandfather,” Cheng Che said.
The auctioneer announced the price, with the starting price of thirteen million.
Thirteen million…
Yu Yang lowered his head and looked at the glass in his hand. He remembered when he accidentally scraped Jin Wuqi’s sports car while riding his bicycle. He asked Jin Wuqi how much he needed to compensate. Jin Wuqi said the car’s original price was thirteen million, minus a month’s depreciation. So he asked Yu Yang for ten million.
Their story began with that bright red sports car. And now almost five years have passed.
Yu Yang raised his head and calmly looked back at the stage.
There were continuous bids, partly because of the painting itself, and partly because of the owner of the painting. The wealthy gentlemen’s generous attitude of spending a fortune for a beauty had been unchanged throughout history and was becoming more and more intense.
In the end, the painting was sold for twenty-nine million. If Yu Yang remembered correctly, the alpha who bought the painting was Song Zhimu. He was the heir of a wealthy family who had chatted with Jin Wuqi on the balcony at Zhou Qiao’s wedding banquet that day.
It seemed he was determined to pursue Jin Wuqi.
“I was told by my brother to go back first.” Cheng Che looked at his phone. He paused, then turned to look at Yu Yang. “He said… Song Zhimu bought his painting for almost thirty million. He at least wants to stay with him until the end of the banquet.”
And then what? Will he use the excuse of sending him home to further his advances?
Yu Yang lightly threw a small decorative flower from the cake into the wine glass. He then said, “I’m leaving too.”
Cheng Che glanced at the flower slowly sinking in the glass wrapped in bubbles. He got up, took his coat, and left early with Yu Yang.
***
Yu Yang leaned back in the back seat with his eyes closed. The rapidly passing light and shadow outside the car flickered on his face.
He remembered the inadvertent glance as he left, the intoxicated smile on Jin Wuxi’s face, the smile as enchanting as it was glamorous, the corners of his eyes hinting at a flirtatiousness more intoxicating than wine. His slender, fair fingers gripped the wine glass, the exposed wrist from the sleeve seeming fragile, as if it would break with a gentle squeeze.
Yu Yang had once kissed that slender, smooth wrist and smelled the scent of roses on it.
What he once owned, once loved… would he be willing to let others take it away?
Actually, it’s not about whether to let go or not. Whether it was four years ago or now, Jin Wuqi has never truly belonged to Yu Yang.
So he doesn’t deserve to hate. Nor does he deserve to be remembered with resentment.
Their relationship started too quickly, to the point where, later on, Yu Yang couldn’t figure out the nature of their relationship. He just stubbornly wanted Jin Wuqi to wait for him to grow up, to become someone dependable, someone who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Jin Wuqi as an alpha.
Jin Wuqi agreed. Yu Yang has now achieved that. But there is now a long gap between them that is difficult to bridge.
Yu Yang should have realised long ago that when Jin Wuqi left four years ago, it marked the end of their relationship completely.
Only he was deeply immersed in the old dreams, indulging in the fleeting summer carnival with the fragrance of roses, unable to break free.
For Jin Wuqi, perhaps Yu Yang was just a boring pastime. He was just an alpha with whom he had once spent some time in bed. Upon their reunion, if both parties were willing, they could still maintain a physical relationship. If not, he could find another alpha.
But for Yu Yang, he placed too much importance on that relationship. He sank too deeply into it, mistakenly took it as love, and gritted his teeth, wanting an explanation and a resolution.
The scales have always been tilted. It was Yu Yang who took things too seriously. He was the one who was wrong. Not Jin Wuqi. It was he who didn’t understand the relationship, mistaking a simple bedmate for a precious first love. He was the one who overthought things.
Yu Yang spent over sixteen hundred days and nights dwelling on everything that happened that summer four years ago.
But in the end, he realised that he was just trapping himself in a cocoon. Perhaps in the eyes of others, his experiences were just a huge joke.
It’s too… cruel.
The car came to a steady stop, and the driver said, “Mr. Yu, we’ve arrived.”
Yu Yang’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he opened his eyes and got out of the car.
He stood in front of his door, bathed in moonlight, and lowered his head to finish a cigarette.
I’ve never truly possessed that rose.
And now, the rose is about to be plucked by someone else.
The night is truly long.
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*Translator’s Note: Of course Jin Wuqi won’t be willing to be with other alphas. Duh… -K
Next update: 2024.04.13
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Link to Chapter 8: https://freenovels.net/long-summer-late-awakening-chapter-8/
