Home/ The Selfish Gene/ Chapter 2
“What are you looking at?”
Monica poked her head from behind and stared curiously at my phone screen.
I quietly exited the mailbox, stuffed the phone into my pocket, and turned to look at her.
“You are being rude.”
Monica didn’t take it seriously at all: “I saw it, he looks like a cool and handsome guy, have you changed your mind?”
Monica is twenty-four years old this year and has a height of about 178 cm. If she wears a pair of seven centimeter high heels, she will be almost as tall as me. She is one of the most popular female models in my aunt’s company. She is of mixed Italian and Danish descent. Her rare red hair and sporadic freckles make her very popular with sports brands, and she is always booked with a tight schedule.
Although she grew up abroad, her Chinese is very good. She even gave herself a Chinese name called “Yang Yuhuan”. When she later found out that this beauty died in her thirties, she became afraid of encountering bad luck and stopped forcing people to call her Yuhuan.
“I don’t even like men.” I said coldly.
What Monica had just glanced at was a summary of Ji Chenfeng’s current situation sent by a private detective. There was also a photo of the other party included with the information, in which he looked like a model, causing her to misunderstand.
Although Yan Shanhua and I are biological mother and son, we can be said to be complete strangers. For 25 years, she has never appeared in my life, so how could I easily trust her and stake my future on her mouth?
Three years ago, I hired a private detective to monitor her and Ji Chenfeng. Every week, the detective agency will collect information about their whereabouts, friendships, and other important things and send it to me by email.
Yan Shanhua thought I didn’t know about Ji Chenfeng’s graduation internship, but in fact, I even knew that Ji Chenfeng bought a small cake to celebrate with her when he got his internship salary.
“That’s not necessarily true.” Monica walked around me and sat down, “Your relationships with those women didn’t last long, maybe it’s because you didn’t find the right ‘model’.”
Unable to see me doing nothing all day except for eating and waiting for death, my aunt Xu Xi arranged for me to be a manager in her modeling agency, so that I could look a little decent in front of Sang Zhengbai, and get scolded a little less.
I don’t need to be present everyday, nor do I need to participate in any decision-making and operation of the company. Sometimes Xu Xi would ask me to sit in front of the computer to help me look at the models and choose from them to be signed by the company. She kept saying that although I am not very good at this job, I have a unique eye for picking beauties.
“Doesn’t it feel disgusting to do it with the same sex?” I said with some disgust.
Although it is an idle job, but due to my identity, employees in the company from top to bottom either respect me or try to flatter me. Only Monica dared to joke with me, part of the reason is because of her nature, but the main reason is – she is Xu Xi’s same-sex lover. Really, the kind of lover who would kiss and go to bed together.
If I were more filial, I could call her “Little Uncle”.
“It’s different.” Monica grasped the two balls of air in front of her chest with both hands, and said in a proud tone that I didn’t want to understand, “Xu Xi’s breasts are bigger than mine, and are super soft!”
For a brief moment, I realized that she was really an annoying American cockroach, one that can make people frightened by the sound of its wings alone.
Before I could think about how to comment on her ridiculous speech, a thick folder knocked her head aside and touched the ground with a loud sound.
Xu Xi came and stood behind us at some point, her red lips were pursed, and her face was full of anger.
“The photographer has been waiting for you for a long time, and you are very happily chatting here. Is it because I have arranged too little work for you?”
Monica covered her head with a painful expression, and stood up without daring to stay for a moment: “Oh, I thought it wasn’t time yet. I’ll go right away, I’ll go right away, don’t be angry!” She ran away quickly.
Facing the girl who disappeared around the corner, she helplessly shook her head, and turned to look at me.
I thought she was going to scold me so I wanted to remind her that it was her little lover who talked about the 18+ stuff first, but I heard the other party say: “I heard you fired the psychiatrist again?”
Xu Xi has a gorgeous appearance, exuding the charm of a mature woman, and has a completely different style in comparison to Monica.
Although I call her “little aunt”, she is actually only ten years older than me. She is the youngest sister of Mrs. Sang, my mother in name. Because of her sexual orientation, apart from me and Sang Zhengbai, she cut off contact with all of her family members.
“I’m not sick, so I don’t need to see a psychiatrist.” I glanced at her, and clicked on the half-watched movie on my phone.
“You and I think it’s useless but your dad doesn’t think the same. If you can get rid of your temper tantrums and stop getting into trouble, maybe he won’t force you to see a doctor again.”
“What he wants is not a son.” I laughed and pointed out sharply, “What he wants is a perfect replica that is exactly like him. This replica must not have any emotional fluctuations, it must be calm and wise at all times, and always have a fake smile on its face.”
Since I was a child, my father never felt satisfied with me. I used to think that he was too harsh, but now that I think about it, I think it is my own problem. I’m not his own blood, so I can’t meet his expectations no matter what. If it was changed to Ji Chenfeng, maybe it would be different.
“Okay, let’s not talk about him. It’s rare for you to come to the company, would you eat with us at noon?” Xu Xi changed the subject.
“No, I have an appointment in the afternoon.”
“Have you got a girlfriend again?”
In her eyes, I can only be busy when I have someone by my side. I would really like to meet the needs of those women, but unfortunately not this time.
“No, I want to take my tortoise to the doctor.”
Her footsteps towards the desk stopped abruptly as if suddenly stuck by glue, and her expression became a little strange.
“Your… turtle?”
Yes, my tortoise.
I put the palm-sized tortoise in a courier box and took it to the pet hospital where Ji Chenfeng resides.
There were several men and women with their own pets sitting in the waiting area. Maybe the waiting time was too long and they became bored after sitting for a while. Two young girls who probably had never met before were gradually chatting with each other.
“Did you find this place on the Internet too? Me too. I heard that the doctors here are very good and even exotic pets can be treated here, so I brought my little fox here for a checkup.” The girl in white patted the box she brought.
“I have been paying attention to the official account of their hospital. They are usually involved in some science projects every once in a while, and the information provided by doctors is also very clear and logical. Especially the new doctor Ji, wow, have you seen him? He is super handsome and professional.” The girl in the pink skirt was so excited that her voice rose a little.
This small pet hospital, is there an official account? It is really the era of internet and social media, everything needs to be online.
Xu Xi was still saying something about it a few days ago, should he also open an official account and post some daily videos of the modeling industry online. One is to earn some popularity, and the other is to engage in science and technology, so that people who don’t know the truth won’t always think that entering the model industry is like entering a dark cave filled with monsters everywhere.
The two girls’ number was called after a while, and they left one after the other. I took out my mobile phone and searched several keywords in rotation, and quickly found the official accounts of “White Acorn Pet Hospital” on various platforms.
Putting on the wireless earphones, I clicked on the video with the most views – the protagonist is Ji Chenfeng and a white cat with pirate eyes.
The white cat has a well-proportioned body without any stray hairs. The intact eye is pure blue, and the orbit of the other eye is slightly sunken with a hideous scar. The eyeball must have been damaged, and surgery was performed to remove it.
In the video, Ji Chenfeng is lying on his back on a reclining chair, his head is tilted to the other side of the screen, his chest is slowly rising and falling, and he seems to be asleep.
The white long-haired cat that seemed to be of Persian breed walked towards him with graceful steps, looked up for a while, kicked its hind legs, and easily jumped into the arms of the man above.
Ji Chenfeng was awakened by its weight, and his face, which was not covered by a mask, appeared in the video all of a sudden. Impressive deep eyebrows, thin lips that bring a sense of coolness, and a clean and sharp mandible line form a masculine face with full visual impact.
He frowned, and looked a little sleepy. I thought he would be angry. But he didn’t even complain, just lowered his eyes, hugged the white cat on his lap as if he was used to it, pressed his lips to its head, and rubbed his chin against its ears, doing things that didn’t match his appearance at all.
The white cat’s long tail gently swept across the man’s arm, and its head was resting on the other’s neck. Just by looking at its posture of wanting to paste the whole cat on the man’s body, it is not difficult to see that it is very happy.
Ji Chenfeng kissed the white cat for a while, maybe because he was too sleepy, he hugged it and fell back to the position just now. The white cat curled up on his chest in a docile manner, and without struggling closed its eyes comfortably. The two are like a pair of lingering lovers, cuddling each other and falling asleep together.
【Mom, I’m in love! 】
【I actually knocked someone out, help me! 】
【People shouldn’t, at least they can’t…]
【Doctor Ji’s face is so good, I would trade ten catties of my body in exchange for being held in his arms and kissed on the forehead! 】
【I made a rooster cry! ! The seventy-year-old grandma next door thought it was dawn! 】
【Who can refuse Brother Ji’s favor? Who can? ! Even our always cold captain has fallen! This kitten is also a face con! 】
This is not even a popular science video, what’s so interesting about Ji Chenfeng sleeping with a cat in his arms?
I didn’t understand, so I went back and read it again, and this time I blocked all the barrage. After the bullet screen that blocked the screen disappeared, even the slightly upward curve of Ji Chenfeng’s lips became clear.
I originally thought that the cool-looking guy was not suitable for smiling, but I didn’t expect that when he actually smiled, it looked like a “winter warm sun”. If he submits his resume to Xu Xi, I will most likely let her sign him, and then send him to shoot the advertisement for the men’s clothing for the autumn and winter series.
Why does a guy who was raised by a nanny, grew up in a slum, was bullied, and was called an ugly nickname, have such a smile?
What is there to be happy about in a life where you have no money, no power, and can’t even afford 300,000 yuan for your surgery?
I paused the video and fixed it on the scene where Ji Chenfeng picked up the cat and smiled slightly.
Maybe it was deliberately performed for the sake of publicity…
“Excuse me, is this Mr. Sang?”
Noticing the waving hands of the person who came in front of my eyes, I took off the earphones.
“It’s me, is it my turn yet?” I put away my phone and got up holding the paper box.
“Yes, please follow me.” The nurse led me to the other end of the corridor, “Your appointment is with Dr. Ji, right? Is the pet you brought a Chinese tortoise?”
“right.”
“Dr. Ji is our Internet celebrity doctor. Recently, many people have made appointments with him.” The nurse smiled.
I followed the nurse’s guidance and entered the consulting room numbered “3”.
“Doctor Ji, it’s a Chinese tortoise, aged about eight years old, male, symptoms are not eating, lack of energy.” The nurse gave the information form I filled before to the young man in the room and left the consulting room.
The other party glanced at the board, poked out a face wearing a mask from behind the computer, and whispered my name: “Sang… Nian?”
The voice is deep and pleasant, which matches his appearance very well, but the pitch is very strange, just like Monica, not completely out of tune, but not so standard.
“it’s me.”
He paused his eyes on my face for a moment, nodded, put down the board, and turned to the computer: “What’s the pet’s name?”
I put the box on the table: “Xiaocao.”
In several years, this is the first time the turtle has had such an official name. On weekdays, only Tang Bian would call him “Little Turtle” affectionately. Sometimes when I am in a good mood, I would call it “Little Bastard”.
After confirming the name, Ji Chenfeng stood up and stretched out his hand into the box.
His approach made it easy for me to smell his faint scent, not perfume, not even shower gel, more like… the smell of disinfectant that can be seen everywhere in hospitals.
Inexpensive and a bit bitter. It’s a smell I hate.
Ji Chenfeng gently picked up the turtle in the box, and carefully inspected it in front of me. His slender fingers stroked every piece of carapace and torso of the tortoise, not letting go of any suspicious lesions.
His reaction did not seem to be false, it seems that Yan Shanhua did not tell him my identity. He may know that someone has lent 300,000 to his mother, but he doesn’t know who it is.
He must still be grateful for the “good-hearted person” who helped him up to now, thinking about returning the money to the other party as soon as possible. Who would know that a “good-hearted person” doesn’t care about his 300,000 yuan, but only hopes that he will die soon.
Having said that, it took three years to repay the 300,000 yuan, and Ji Chenfeng planned to pay it back for another two years. The job of a veterinarian does not seem to be very profitable. It’s better to be a model and accept two more advertisements, maybe it will be paid off in a month.
Just give Yan Shanhua a sum of money and ask her to send Ji Chenfeng abroad to continue his studies, so as not to worry me by staying in China…
“Can you…don’t stare at me all the time?” Ji Chenfeng turned the tortoise over and continued to check its plastron. When speaking, he just glanced at me and then gently returned to the original place.
I was taken aback for a moment, then realized that he was talking to me.
“Sorry, I lost my composure when I saw the real person for the first time.” With a smile on my face, I stepped back a little and distanced myself from him to reduce my sense of oppression.
He didn’t respond, I don’t know if he didn’t care or didn’t bother to pay attention.
Seeing that the other party’s attention was on the turtle, the corners of my lips fell back a little.
Displeased. Maybe he’s just not used to being stared at, but at this moment, whatever he says sounds harsh to me.
What’s more…he is obviously a pervert who likes men, why pretend to be a pure and sacred person ?
Leave a Reply