Chapter 3
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Mao Lu entered his apartment the same way he'd left that morning, like a zombie. He crawled into his bed, curling into a ball, and fell unconscious straight away. He wasn't working until the following afternoon so that meant he had a lot of time to catch up on lost sleep.
Or at least that's what he thought until..
"Knock, Knock, Knock" someone came knocking at 23:15.
At first Mao Lu tried to ignore it, surely they'd think he wasn't in and kindly just leave! But 10 minutes later they were still knocking and louder than ever.
Mao Lu flung open the door, he just wanted to sleep more and enjoy his free time, he glared with bloodshot eyes at the short and cute man on the other side.
"What do you want Tanaka!?"
Tanaka Kato[1] was Mao Lu's friend and colleague from his part time job as a waiter at Cafe E'clair. Tanaka was an international student from Japan whose Chinese was excellent. He studied modern languages at Tsing Hao University. He and Mao Lu had become instant friends when they met 2 years ago during a shift, that friendship only thickening when they both found out the other was gay.
Their interactions consisted of sending each other memes, spamming, swearing (basically quality banter) and drinking. They had each others backs like true brothers.
At the moment Tanaka was standing in Mao Lu's doorway holding two beer bottles.
"Do you not remember messaging me?" Tanaka irritably replied, holding out his phone.
On the screen the wechat app was on display and there could be seen a message sent by Mao at 10pm saying. "Bing Bing and Detong are getting married."
"The moment I saw that I knew you needed to talk so I came over as soon as I finished work. Even Bei Lao[2] came." Tanaka pointed behind himself. Only then did Mao Lu notice Tanaka's boyfriend, Bei Lao, lurking awkwardly in the doorway.
"Are you okay?" Bei Lao inquired, just like Tanaka he was concerned for Mao Lu.
Bei Lao was an office worker so he had that standard office hairstyle. Even though he was quite tall his back was bit hunched, probably from spending hours stooped over a computer, so he appeared a lot shorter. He wore glasses, was slightly on the older side, and appeared cold and stoic. But in reality Bei Lao was very friendly, timid and quite sensitive.
"Yh, you're not planning to kill yourself or something are you?" Tanaka added warily whilst scanning Mao Lu's messy apartment.
Other than the unwashed dishes piled in the sink and various dumped articles on the floor it didn't look like he'd gone out of his way to buy any charcoal grills[3], and there were no knives lying around.
Mao was offended. "What do you take me for!!! I wouldn't kill myself over this. It doesn't even bother me."
"It doesn't." Tanaka and Bei Lao said in unison, with equally disbelieving and doubtful tones.
"..."
Mao only sighed and walked into his apartment. "Just come in already."
"About time you let us in." Tanaka harrumphed, strolling into the small flat like he owned the place, Bei Lao following closely behind in a more reserved manner.
Tanaka kicked some clothes away and sat down and opened a beer. Whilst Bei Lao began picking up the clothes and folding them.
"You don't have to do that." Mao Lu quickly said, as he began picking up the clothes and scattered magazines himself, cleaning his apartment.
"No let me help." Bei Lao stubbornly demanded, not stopping and instead moving to the sink and washing the dishes.
As the two cleaned Tanaka just lazily sat cross legged on the floor whilst drinking his beer, clearly having no intention to join in.
Any stereotypes you would originally have about the Japanese being very polite, timid and clean are entirely broken once you meet Tanaka. He was loud, bold, impolite, and messy. Even though he looked cute and small like one of those bishounen boys in anime, Tanaka often told tales of his previous Yankee days back in High school. If Mao was a teacher he would have dreaded having Tanaka Kato in his class.
"All done." Bei Lao smiled, the apartment had gone through a complete transformation. From its earlier doom and gloom it was now clear, clean, and ordered.
"Awesome you guys did a great job." Tanaka clapped. Bei Lao and Mao Lu both glared at him, they didn't want to hear praise from the guy that didn't help.
…
Soon they were all sitting on the floor drinking.
"So you're sure you're okay." Bei Lao asked again.
"Like I told you I already prepared myself. I'd been ready for this since they started dating 6 years ago. They've always been a beautiful couple that were madly in love with each other and looked great together. Even though Detong can be a fool and a complete arse most of the time, he still cares for Bing Bing deeply. That's the reason why they've lasted so long. A marriage was going to be on the horizon eventually. Marriage won't change the way things have been between all of us."
"Wrong" said Tanaka, "Marriage changes everything. It's a lot more serious of a commitment, they won't have time for you like they did in the past. They'll move onto family planning and soon have kids running around and you'll end up being their Uncle Mao. Zhao Detong is straight as well, so if he even dared have an affair it wouldn't be with you."
"Zhao Detong isn't that stupid he wouldn't have an affair! And I would never try anything!!!"
"Yh yh.. okay, I don't know enough about the guy" Tanaka rolled his big eyes, "You get the point though don't you? You won't even be able to entertain the thought of being with him like you used to, and if you still do it'll just be more painful for you. So my advice is to fully move on Mao. Find love, stop being such a wet blanket."
"You've never actually been in a relationship or done anything with a guy right?" Tanaka bluntly asked.
Mao blushed, his face going hot with embarrassment, "So what!?"
"I'm just saying, you need to test the waters a little bit. Go and find someone amazing, fall in love."
"As if it's that easy."
"It is that easy if you put yourself out there a little bit. Never going out, always working, and always pining after Zhao Detong. That just isn't healthy."
"I'm not in the financial position to date. I barely have 200RMB to my name, and I still have outstanding debts. If I had time to date I'd rather spend it working."
Tanaka scowled, "You're impossible, honestly."
Bei's calm voice chimed in, "I agree with Tanaka. You working all the time and pining after Zhao Detong isn't healthy. You should go out and try dating a little. No one's ever ready to date, you might not be financially stable in even the next 10 years, rather than wait for too long try going for it now when you're young. I wasted most of my youth not coming out, not saying anything. I worked long stressful shifts and underpaid overtime for years. I'd practically given up on love and ever being happy, but then I met Tanaka during a business trip to Japan, and he changed my life. We've been together 3 years now. He gave me the courage to talk about it with my parents and be accepted. He made me a better man.
Happiness is only around the corner Mao, you just need to reach for it."
Mao was surprised since Bei was usually the quiet type and normally didn't say that much. Deep down Mao knew Bei was right, that he should try living a little but… he honestly didn't know how to start.
"You are right." He conceded.
"Yes!" Tanaka pumped his fists in the air and excitedly squeezed Bei's arm. "Your awesome speech worked." he praised.
Bei's ears went a little red and he just nodded "Un."
"Gosh I know so many guys I can introduce you too." Tanaka squealed. "Of course only the best for you!"
Mao immediately felt uncomfortable looking at the excited scheming eyes of Tanaka, it was just like Fei Bing Bing's eyes from earlier. Why did everyone want to play the matchmaker, honestly?
…
After much discussion and drinking Tanaka decided that they'd all go to a popular cafe next weekend for some boyfriend hunting. Tanaka and Bei didn't leave until around about 2am which allowed Mao to finally crawl back into bed and get a well-needed rest.
…
In the afternoon Mao got up and robotically prepared for his shift at the Cafe. As he walked out he noticed a pile of letters on his doorstep.
Inwardly despairing he picked them up. Five of them were bank notices telling him what he needed to pay and how long he had to pay it and the consequences of not paying. It also looked like some interest had been added to his debt...Great oh joy (sarcasm).
The sixth letter was the one that surprised Mao. It was a black envelope. It had gorgeous calligraphy on the front, in gold strokes it said B&B law. What surprised Mao the most was that it was addressed to Zhang Lu. Zhang was Mao's name before he'd switched to using his Mother's maternal name 'Mao', after the incident.
He'd used Mao for nearly six years now, he never got letters addressed to his old name and he'd moved a lot of times in the past few years and his address was under Mao Lu.
He opened it curiously. The letter was from a man named Mr. Baker that worked at B&B law firm. According to the letter someone named Wang Cao had died and had given Mao Lu everything he owned in his will. Mr. Baker wanted Mao to drop by the office in Guomao so that he could claim his inheritance.
"An inheritance! For me! Who was this Wang Cao?" In Mao's head he ran through a list of acquaintances his parents had had. Most of his parents so called friends distanced themselves from the family the moment they went bankrupt, and after the incident only one or two had turned up to his Mother's funeral. His parents had had him quite late so his Maternal and Paternal grandparents were dead by the time he'd been in his teens. He had no close relatives, and there was no one with the name Wang related to his family.
Was this a joke?
[1] Tanaka (The name Tanaka means dweller in the rice fields. Kato (One of my best friends, his last name is Kato, I have no idea what it means I just thought it sounded cool.)
[2] 'Bei' (North) 'Lao' (wise). So his names Wise North
[3] Tanaka was worried that Mao Lu would try to commit suicide by burning charcoal via Carbon monoxide poisoning.
__________________________________________
GETTING AN INHERITANCE PT 2
Mao Lu put the black envelope in his pocket. He'd check later on the computer at work to see whether this B&B Law firm really existed or not. He didn't have any money so he wasn't worth scamming, but one must always be very careful.
Mao Lu walked to the bus stop and as he waited for the 658 bus, he heard the sound of a car stopping and a loud honk caught his attention. When he looked up he saw a silver Mercedes Benz and the familiar face of Zhao Detong smiling at him.
"Get in I'll give you a ride to work!" he called.
Mao Lu felt slightly embarrassed since everyone at the bus stop was now staring at him. Hurriedly he ran into the passenger seat and buckled up.
"Where too today?" De Tong laughed.
"I'm working at Cafe E'clair today."
"Awesome that was in my direction." De Tong said as he turned the car around.
Mao Lu couldn't help but feel that Zhao Detong was really a good Brother to him.
"So I was thinking." Zhao Detong casually spoke as he weaved through the Beijing traffic. "It's time you stop being so stubborn and take my offer to work at my family's Company. With all the part time jobs you've been doing lately you work yourself practically to the bone yet you haven't even been able to get any savings at all. If you worked at my company it would be ten times better for you-"
"No. I refuse." Mao Lu cut De Tong off, not even bothering to look at him as he stared out the window, watching the streets flash by.
"Lu for crying out loud, is it really that hard to throw away your damn pride, you're in no position to act like this."
"It's because I'm not in a position to pick and choose that I have to keep my pride and not take wantonly from you."
"We're best friends, sworn brothers!" Zhao Detong yelled, "What's the problem with you taking from me and sharing things with me. That's what Brothers do. You constantly throwing aside my sincerity shows you don't care about our friendship."
"Of course I care!"
"Then why-"
"I have my own principles Detong. I will survive with my own power. I only have High School level qualifications, if I went to work with you I wouldn't fit in with the others. They'd dislike me and think I had gotten to my position through cheating, which would be true."
Zhao De Tong was angry and honked at a driver. "Does such a thing even matter Lu, who cares what people think."
"I care. I refuse to work with you."
De Tong sighed as he pulled the car next to Cafe E'clair.
"Fine Lu, fine but don't ever tell me I never tried to help you."
"I wouldn't dare." said Mao Lu as he walked out of the car and headed towards the cafe not able to look back. There was no way Mao Lu could work with Zhao at his company, it was a matter of pride but also he wasn't sure if his heart could take it.
-----
A few hours later in the staff room, Mao Lu was on the computer searching for information about B&B law firm. It was real alright. B&B Law firm was a famous and successful legal company that only catered towards the super rich. The location of their main building was in Guomao, the same place written on the letter he'd been sent.
Since it seemed credible and the building was nearby his work place, he decided to go and check it out after his shift. He had to clear up the misunderstanding since he didn't know a Wang Cao, there must have been a mistake.
Tanaka entered the cramped staff room of Cafe E'clair, sneaking past the lockers and peering over Mao Lu's shoulder.
"What are you searching?"
"Arghh!" Mao Lu jumped, his heart thumping.
Tanaka burst into laughter, "You're as sensitive as ever I see. Why are you always so tense hahaha."
Mao calmed down and glared at the giggling Tanaka. He felt like screaming at him, but knowing Tanaka if he got mad that would only make him laugh more.
"What do you want?"
"What time do you get off break" Tanaka asked whilst wiping a tear from his eye.
"10 minutes from now, why?" Mao Lu felt suspicious.
"Oh it's just that Fei Bing Bing came to the cafe, she wants to talk."
Fei Bing Bing was here to talk, Mao sighed he could already guess why.
"Okay thanks for telling me."
"No problem."
Mao Lu made his way to the busy store front of Cafe E'clair, it was four o'clock and well past the lunchtime rush hour but there were still customers crowding in for some authentic French style cakes, sweets, and coffee.
Mao Lu had started working here three years ago. The owner was a French man in his fifties and he was a really kind and good boss that gave Mao any hours he could, and if there was food left over at the cafe he'd always let Mao take some home. Out of all of his part time jobs Mao Lu found the cafe to be his favourite.
As he walked around the wooden tables he saw Fei Bing Bing sitting there with two slices of red velvet strawberry cake in front of her and two coffees. From her grey office clothes it was obvious that she'd just come from her father's company.
He sat down opposite her and picked up a fork and began eating one of the slices of cake without saying a word.
Bing Bing looked at him quietly for awhile and then said, "You should really take De Tong's offer Lu, he really wants to help you y'know. Why are you being so stubborn?"
Mao Lu didn't respond to her, he just continued eating the cake. He'd already said everything he had to say to De Tong.
"When we were younger, De Tong and I didn't really have any kind of position in our parents companies and we still had go to University[1]. Whilst you were going through all your problems we couldn't help you but we can now. De Tong got promoted to executive last week, he came by to tell you this afternoon but he told me he didn't get a chance to and just ended up fighting...what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to worry about what others think, and it's not like De Tong will give you a high level position straight away. You can work from the bottom up and… Lu will you listen to me!"
"I am listening. But I already told Detong no!"
"Oh for gods sake Zhang Lu… Mao Lu...for once just think about yourself. Do you know how hard it is for De Tong and I to watch you struggling like this all the time. We always come to you for our selfish reasons and you've always been there for us through thick and thin. Is it so wrong that we want to give a little back."
"It's not wrong" Mao said whilst rubbing his temples, "I'd just prefer it if you did it in a different way."
Fei Bing Bing shook her head and sighed. "Are you working tonight."
"Yes."
"Where."
"At the club obviously."
"Then we'll continue this conversation at the bar."
"..." Did they really have to continue the conversation? Mao Lu was certain he was getting a headache.
He watched as she stood up and abruptly left the cafe. She looked pretty pissed… Oh well. He stared at the intact cake and coffee she'd left behind, "more for me" he thought.
----
After his shift he took a bus into the Business district. It was around about the time that people were getting off work and heading home, the streets were filled with workers in suits and uniforms. Luckily he was wearing his cafe uniform that consisted of a white chiffon shirt buttoned to the collar with the E'clair logo on the breast pocket, and a pair of slim fitting black trousers. So he wasn't too out of place.
He soon found the tall building belonging to B&B Law firm, it wasn't easy to miss, the building was very tall. It looked like it was made entirely of black glass- at least the exterior did- and across the the front in gold characters was B&B Law.
He gulped a bit, it seemed rather impressive. He really hoped this letter was real and not a scam, he didn't want to be thrown out after walking through the entrance.
Straightening up a little he mustered his courage and charged through the revolving doors. On the inside the lobby was huge, there was a seating area on one side, a cafe on the other, and straight in front were two assistants at the desk.
"Hello." Mao Lu greeted them a bit nervously, bowing. "I got this letter through the post advising me to meet a Mr. Baker." He extended the letter to one of the smiling desk assistants.
The assistant looked Mao Lu up and down, he was very handsome but looking at his clothes, his long unkempt hair and piercing she ranked him down in her mind. "Maybe he's got the wrong building" she thought, but when she glanced at the letter she froze. He had a meeting with Mr. Baker. Baker was a platinum level member of the firm, he dealt mostly with dealings from overseas and V. I. Ps. His monthly revenue was probably in the millions, not just anyone could meet him.
"Two seconds." she said as she reached for the phone and pressed a number. On the first ring the call was picked up. "Hello Mr. Baker, I have a Mr. Zhang Lu here to see you….yes sir… Okay." she put the phone down.
She smiled brighter, and politely bowed to Mao Lu. "Sir, Mr. Baker has been waiting for you, let me take you to his office."
Was it just Mao Lu's imagination or did this lady just get more polite?
...
The desk assistant personally escorted Mao Lu to a big and grand looking elevator. As they entered he stared in shock as she pressed the 25th floor, the highest floor. Don't they usually say that the higher the floor the more powerful a person was in an organisation.
Mao Lu felt a bit overwhelmed.
After two minutes the elevator finally stopped and they walked out into a very sleek office. There were bamboo roots and rocks placed almost randomly around, Mao guessed the man was really into Feng Shui. On one wall there was a mini waterfall and on the opposite wall there was huge fish tank filled with a whole family of clown fish. It was impressive to say the least.
"I'll be leaving now." said the desk assistant bowing deeply and then getting in the elevator.
Mao felt at a loss, this place was huge.
"So you're Zhang Lu." said a strong voice, Mao looked towards his left and saw the tallest man he'd ever seen. He made Mao who was 6'2 feel short. Other than the man's impressively long legs he also had a rather long face, he had green eyes and wore thick rimmed glasses. He seemed to be balding as there was no hair on his head other than the odd strand but his eyebrows were thick and blonde.
A foreigner! Although he'd guessed he was foreign from the name Mao couldn't help but be a bit taken aback. Mr. Baker looked rather strange. Mao Lu had met many foreigners during his various jobs but he'd never met anyone that looked like Mr. Baker before.
"Take a seat" said Baker who walked towards a row of sofas that had a glass coffee table in the middle.
Mao obediently sat down. It was very comfortable.
He watched as Baker brought out a large envelope.
"Umm wait Mr. Baker, before you go into the inheritance. I think there might be a mistake" Mao Lu began. "I go by Mao Lu now and not Zhang Lu, also I've never met a Wang Cao in my life. Perhaps I'm the wrong person."
Mr.Baker raised a bushy eyebrow. He then opened the envelope in his hands and took out a picture. "So you're saying you're not the boy photographed here."
Mao Lu looked at the picture and audibly gasped. It was him. It was a picture from when he was around six or seven. He sitting on a rock near a rice field next to an old farmer. The farmer's name was Wang. "Old man Wang!" Mao Lu exclaimed. He couldn't believe it.
When he was young his parents loved to take him on trips around the countryside. It was because they said too much city air wasn't good for brain development. One day on a trip to the rice paddies in longsheng he'd met Old Man Wang. He'd been a friendly guy who showed Mao Lu and his parents around the area. He taught Mao Lu a lot about how to farm and the history of Longsheng county. They'd only met briefly and parted ways the same day they'd met.
Mao Lu couldn't believe that he'd been put in this man's will just because of that small meeting.
[1] I'm calling it University because I'm british and I'm not used to calling it College. I'm not used to saying High school either but in the UK you call high school sixth-form or college, so I just ended up calling it High school Cus I didn't want to confuse anyone.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Mao Lu entered his apartment the same way he'd left that morning, like a zombie. He crawled into his bed, curling into a ball, and fell unconscious straight away. He wasn't working until the following afternoon so that meant he had a lot of time to catch up on lost sleep.
Or at least that's what he thought until..
"Knock, Knock, Knock" someone came knocking at 23:15.
At first Mao Lu tried to ignore it, surely they'd think he wasn't in and kindly just leave! But 10 minutes later they were still knocking and louder than ever.
Mao Lu flung open the door, he just wanted to sleep more and enjoy his free time, he glared with bloodshot eyes at the short and cute man on the other side.
"What do you want Tanaka!?"
Tanaka Kato[1] was Mao Lu's friend and colleague from his part time job as a waiter at Cafe E'clair. Tanaka was an international student from Japan whose Chinese was excellent. He studied modern languages at Tsing Hao University. He and Mao Lu had become instant friends when they met 2 years ago during a shift, that friendship only thickening when they both found out the other was gay.
Their interactions consisted of sending each other memes, spamming, swearing (basically quality banter) and drinking. They had each others backs like true brothers.
At the moment Tanaka was standing in Mao Lu's doorway holding two beer bottles.
"Do you not remember messaging me?" Tanaka irritably replied, holding out his phone.
On the screen the wechat app was on display and there could be seen a message sent by Mao at 10pm saying. "Bing Bing and Detong are getting married."
"The moment I saw that I knew you needed to talk so I came over as soon as I finished work. Even Bei Lao[2] came." Tanaka pointed behind himself. Only then did Mao Lu notice Tanaka's boyfriend, Bei Lao, lurking awkwardly in the doorway.
"Are you okay?" Bei Lao inquired, just like Tanaka he was concerned for Mao Lu.
Bei Lao was an office worker so he had that standard office hairstyle. Even though he was quite tall his back was bit hunched, probably from spending hours stooped over a computer, so he appeared a lot shorter. He wore glasses, was slightly on the older side, and appeared cold and stoic. But in reality Bei Lao was very friendly, timid and quite sensitive.
"Yh, you're not planning to kill yourself or something are you?" Tanaka added warily whilst scanning Mao Lu's messy apartment.
Other than the unwashed dishes piled in the sink and various dumped articles on the floor it didn't look like he'd gone out of his way to buy any charcoal grills[3], and there were no knives lying around.
Mao was offended. "What do you take me for!!! I wouldn't kill myself over this. It doesn't even bother me."
"It doesn't." Tanaka and Bei Lao said in unison, with equally disbelieving and doubtful tones.
"..."
Mao only sighed and walked into his apartment. "Just come in already."
"About time you let us in." Tanaka harrumphed, strolling into the small flat like he owned the place, Bei Lao following closely behind in a more reserved manner.
Tanaka kicked some clothes away and sat down and opened a beer. Whilst Bei Lao began picking up the clothes and folding them.
"You don't have to do that." Mao Lu quickly said, as he began picking up the clothes and scattered magazines himself, cleaning his apartment.
"No let me help." Bei Lao stubbornly demanded, not stopping and instead moving to the sink and washing the dishes.
As the two cleaned Tanaka just lazily sat cross legged on the floor whilst drinking his beer, clearly having no intention to join in.
Any stereotypes you would originally have about the Japanese being very polite, timid and clean are entirely broken once you meet Tanaka. He was loud, bold, impolite, and messy. Even though he looked cute and small like one of those bishounen boys in anime, Tanaka often told tales of his previous Yankee days back in High school. If Mao was a teacher he would have dreaded having Tanaka Kato in his class.
"All done." Bei Lao smiled, the apartment had gone through a complete transformation. From its earlier doom and gloom it was now clear, clean, and ordered.
"Awesome you guys did a great job." Tanaka clapped. Bei Lao and Mao Lu both glared at him, they didn't want to hear praise from the guy that didn't help.
…
Soon they were all sitting on the floor drinking.
"So you're sure you're okay." Bei Lao asked again.
"Like I told you I already prepared myself. I'd been ready for this since they started dating 6 years ago. They've always been a beautiful couple that were madly in love with each other and looked great together. Even though Detong can be a fool and a complete arse most of the time, he still cares for Bing Bing deeply. That's the reason why they've lasted so long. A marriage was going to be on the horizon eventually. Marriage won't change the way things have been between all of us."
"Wrong" said Tanaka, "Marriage changes everything. It's a lot more serious of a commitment, they won't have time for you like they did in the past. They'll move onto family planning and soon have kids running around and you'll end up being their Uncle Mao. Zhao Detong is straight as well, so if he even dared have an affair it wouldn't be with you."
"Zhao Detong isn't that stupid he wouldn't have an affair! And I would never try anything!!!"
"Yh yh.. okay, I don't know enough about the guy" Tanaka rolled his big eyes, "You get the point though don't you? You won't even be able to entertain the thought of being with him like you used to, and if you still do it'll just be more painful for you. So my advice is to fully move on Mao. Find love, stop being such a wet blanket."
"You've never actually been in a relationship or done anything with a guy right?" Tanaka bluntly asked.
Mao blushed, his face going hot with embarrassment, "So what!?"
"I'm just saying, you need to test the waters a little bit. Go and find someone amazing, fall in love."
"As if it's that easy."
"It is that easy if you put yourself out there a little bit. Never going out, always working, and always pining after Zhao Detong. That just isn't healthy."
"I'm not in the financial position to date. I barely have 200RMB to my name, and I still have outstanding debts. If I had time to date I'd rather spend it working."
Tanaka scowled, "You're impossible, honestly."
Bei's calm voice chimed in, "I agree with Tanaka. You working all the time and pining after Zhao Detong isn't healthy. You should go out and try dating a little. No one's ever ready to date, you might not be financially stable in even the next 10 years, rather than wait for too long try going for it now when you're young. I wasted most of my youth not coming out, not saying anything. I worked long stressful shifts and underpaid overtime for years. I'd practically given up on love and ever being happy, but then I met Tanaka during a business trip to Japan, and he changed my life. We've been together 3 years now. He gave me the courage to talk about it with my parents and be accepted. He made me a better man.
Happiness is only around the corner Mao, you just need to reach for it."
Mao was surprised since Bei was usually the quiet type and normally didn't say that much. Deep down Mao knew Bei was right, that he should try living a little but… he honestly didn't know how to start.
"You are right." He conceded.
"Yes!" Tanaka pumped his fists in the air and excitedly squeezed Bei's arm. "Your awesome speech worked." he praised.
Bei's ears went a little red and he just nodded "Un."
"Gosh I know so many guys I can introduce you too." Tanaka squealed. "Of course only the best for you!"
Mao immediately felt uncomfortable looking at the excited scheming eyes of Tanaka, it was just like Fei Bing Bing's eyes from earlier. Why did everyone want to play the matchmaker, honestly?
…
After much discussion and drinking Tanaka decided that they'd all go to a popular cafe next weekend for some boyfriend hunting. Tanaka and Bei didn't leave until around about 2am which allowed Mao to finally crawl back into bed and get a well-needed rest.
…
In the afternoon Mao got up and robotically prepared for his shift at the Cafe. As he walked out he noticed a pile of letters on his doorstep.
Inwardly despairing he picked them up. Five of them were bank notices telling him what he needed to pay and how long he had to pay it and the consequences of not paying. It also looked like some interest had been added to his debt...Great oh joy (sarcasm).
The sixth letter was the one that surprised Mao. It was a black envelope. It had gorgeous calligraphy on the front, in gold strokes it said B&B law. What surprised Mao the most was that it was addressed to Zhang Lu. Zhang was Mao's name before he'd switched to using his Mother's maternal name 'Mao', after the incident.
He'd used Mao for nearly six years now, he never got letters addressed to his old name and he'd moved a lot of times in the past few years and his address was under Mao Lu.
He opened it curiously. The letter was from a man named Mr. Baker that worked at B&B law firm. According to the letter someone named Wang Cao had died and had given Mao Lu everything he owned in his will. Mr. Baker wanted Mao to drop by the office in Guomao so that he could claim his inheritance.
"An inheritance! For me! Who was this Wang Cao?" In Mao's head he ran through a list of acquaintances his parents had had. Most of his parents so called friends distanced themselves from the family the moment they went bankrupt, and after the incident only one or two had turned up to his Mother's funeral. His parents had had him quite late so his Maternal and Paternal grandparents were dead by the time he'd been in his teens. He had no close relatives, and there was no one with the name Wang related to his family.
Was this a joke?
[1] Tanaka (The name Tanaka means dweller in the rice fields. Kato (One of my best friends, his last name is Kato, I have no idea what it means I just thought it sounded cool.)
[2] 'Bei' (North) 'Lao' (wise). So his names Wise North
[3] Tanaka was worried that Mao Lu would try to commit suicide by burning charcoal via Carbon monoxide poisoning.
__________________________________________
GETTING AN INHERITANCE PT 2
Mao Lu put the black envelope in his pocket. He'd check later on the computer at work to see whether this B&B Law firm really existed or not. He didn't have any money so he wasn't worth scamming, but one must always be very careful.
Mao Lu walked to the bus stop and as he waited for the 658 bus, he heard the sound of a car stopping and a loud honk caught his attention. When he looked up he saw a silver Mercedes Benz and the familiar face of Zhao Detong smiling at him.
"Get in I'll give you a ride to work!" he called.
Mao Lu felt slightly embarrassed since everyone at the bus stop was now staring at him. Hurriedly he ran into the passenger seat and buckled up.
"Where too today?" De Tong laughed.
"I'm working at Cafe E'clair today."
"Awesome that was in my direction." De Tong said as he turned the car around.
Mao Lu couldn't help but feel that Zhao Detong was really a good Brother to him.
"So I was thinking." Zhao Detong casually spoke as he weaved through the Beijing traffic. "It's time you stop being so stubborn and take my offer to work at my family's Company. With all the part time jobs you've been doing lately you work yourself practically to the bone yet you haven't even been able to get any savings at all. If you worked at my company it would be ten times better for you-"
"No. I refuse." Mao Lu cut De Tong off, not even bothering to look at him as he stared out the window, watching the streets flash by.
"Lu for crying out loud, is it really that hard to throw away your damn pride, you're in no position to act like this."
"It's because I'm not in a position to pick and choose that I have to keep my pride and not take wantonly from you."
"We're best friends, sworn brothers!" Zhao Detong yelled, "What's the problem with you taking from me and sharing things with me. That's what Brothers do. You constantly throwing aside my sincerity shows you don't care about our friendship."
"Of course I care!"
"Then why-"
"I have my own principles Detong. I will survive with my own power. I only have High School level qualifications, if I went to work with you I wouldn't fit in with the others. They'd dislike me and think I had gotten to my position through cheating, which would be true."
Zhao De Tong was angry and honked at a driver. "Does such a thing even matter Lu, who cares what people think."
"I care. I refuse to work with you."
De Tong sighed as he pulled the car next to Cafe E'clair.
"Fine Lu, fine but don't ever tell me I never tried to help you."
"I wouldn't dare." said Mao Lu as he walked out of the car and headed towards the cafe not able to look back. There was no way Mao Lu could work with Zhao at his company, it was a matter of pride but also he wasn't sure if his heart could take it.
-----
A few hours later in the staff room, Mao Lu was on the computer searching for information about B&B law firm. It was real alright. B&B Law firm was a famous and successful legal company that only catered towards the super rich. The location of their main building was in Guomao, the same place written on the letter he'd been sent.
Since it seemed credible and the building was nearby his work place, he decided to go and check it out after his shift. He had to clear up the misunderstanding since he didn't know a Wang Cao, there must have been a mistake.
Tanaka entered the cramped staff room of Cafe E'clair, sneaking past the lockers and peering over Mao Lu's shoulder.
"What are you searching?"
"Arghh!" Mao Lu jumped, his heart thumping.
Tanaka burst into laughter, "You're as sensitive as ever I see. Why are you always so tense hahaha."
Mao calmed down and glared at the giggling Tanaka. He felt like screaming at him, but knowing Tanaka if he got mad that would only make him laugh more.
"What do you want?"
"What time do you get off break" Tanaka asked whilst wiping a tear from his eye.
"10 minutes from now, why?" Mao Lu felt suspicious.
"Oh it's just that Fei Bing Bing came to the cafe, she wants to talk."
Fei Bing Bing was here to talk, Mao sighed he could already guess why.
"Okay thanks for telling me."
"No problem."
Mao Lu made his way to the busy store front of Cafe E'clair, it was four o'clock and well past the lunchtime rush hour but there were still customers crowding in for some authentic French style cakes, sweets, and coffee.
Mao Lu had started working here three years ago. The owner was a French man in his fifties and he was a really kind and good boss that gave Mao any hours he could, and if there was food left over at the cafe he'd always let Mao take some home. Out of all of his part time jobs Mao Lu found the cafe to be his favourite.
As he walked around the wooden tables he saw Fei Bing Bing sitting there with two slices of red velvet strawberry cake in front of her and two coffees. From her grey office clothes it was obvious that she'd just come from her father's company.
He sat down opposite her and picked up a fork and began eating one of the slices of cake without saying a word.
Bing Bing looked at him quietly for awhile and then said, "You should really take De Tong's offer Lu, he really wants to help you y'know. Why are you being so stubborn?"
Mao Lu didn't respond to her, he just continued eating the cake. He'd already said everything he had to say to De Tong.
"When we were younger, De Tong and I didn't really have any kind of position in our parents companies and we still had go to University[1]. Whilst you were going through all your problems we couldn't help you but we can now. De Tong got promoted to executive last week, he came by to tell you this afternoon but he told me he didn't get a chance to and just ended up fighting...what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to worry about what others think, and it's not like De Tong will give you a high level position straight away. You can work from the bottom up and… Lu will you listen to me!"
"I am listening. But I already told Detong no!"
"Oh for gods sake Zhang Lu… Mao Lu...for once just think about yourself. Do you know how hard it is for De Tong and I to watch you struggling like this all the time. We always come to you for our selfish reasons and you've always been there for us through thick and thin. Is it so wrong that we want to give a little back."
"It's not wrong" Mao said whilst rubbing his temples, "I'd just prefer it if you did it in a different way."
Fei Bing Bing shook her head and sighed. "Are you working tonight."
"Yes."
"Where."
"At the club obviously."
"Then we'll continue this conversation at the bar."
"..." Did they really have to continue the conversation? Mao Lu was certain he was getting a headache.
He watched as she stood up and abruptly left the cafe. She looked pretty pissed… Oh well. He stared at the intact cake and coffee she'd left behind, "more for me" he thought.
----
After his shift he took a bus into the Business district. It was around about the time that people were getting off work and heading home, the streets were filled with workers in suits and uniforms. Luckily he was wearing his cafe uniform that consisted of a white chiffon shirt buttoned to the collar with the E'clair logo on the breast pocket, and a pair of slim fitting black trousers. So he wasn't too out of place.
He soon found the tall building belonging to B&B Law firm, it wasn't easy to miss, the building was very tall. It looked like it was made entirely of black glass- at least the exterior did- and across the the front in gold characters was B&B Law.
He gulped a bit, it seemed rather impressive. He really hoped this letter was real and not a scam, he didn't want to be thrown out after walking through the entrance.
Straightening up a little he mustered his courage and charged through the revolving doors. On the inside the lobby was huge, there was a seating area on one side, a cafe on the other, and straight in front were two assistants at the desk.
"Hello." Mao Lu greeted them a bit nervously, bowing. "I got this letter through the post advising me to meet a Mr. Baker." He extended the letter to one of the smiling desk assistants.
The assistant looked Mao Lu up and down, he was very handsome but looking at his clothes, his long unkempt hair and piercing she ranked him down in her mind. "Maybe he's got the wrong building" she thought, but when she glanced at the letter she froze. He had a meeting with Mr. Baker. Baker was a platinum level member of the firm, he dealt mostly with dealings from overseas and V. I. Ps. His monthly revenue was probably in the millions, not just anyone could meet him.
"Two seconds." she said as she reached for the phone and pressed a number. On the first ring the call was picked up. "Hello Mr. Baker, I have a Mr. Zhang Lu here to see you….yes sir… Okay." she put the phone down.
She smiled brighter, and politely bowed to Mao Lu. "Sir, Mr. Baker has been waiting for you, let me take you to his office."
Was it just Mao Lu's imagination or did this lady just get more polite?
...
The desk assistant personally escorted Mao Lu to a big and grand looking elevator. As they entered he stared in shock as she pressed the 25th floor, the highest floor. Don't they usually say that the higher the floor the more powerful a person was in an organisation.
Mao Lu felt a bit overwhelmed.
After two minutes the elevator finally stopped and they walked out into a very sleek office. There were bamboo roots and rocks placed almost randomly around, Mao guessed the man was really into Feng Shui. On one wall there was a mini waterfall and on the opposite wall there was huge fish tank filled with a whole family of clown fish. It was impressive to say the least.
"I'll be leaving now." said the desk assistant bowing deeply and then getting in the elevator.
Mao felt at a loss, this place was huge.
"So you're Zhang Lu." said a strong voice, Mao looked towards his left and saw the tallest man he'd ever seen. He made Mao who was 6'2 feel short. Other than the man's impressively long legs he also had a rather long face, he had green eyes and wore thick rimmed glasses. He seemed to be balding as there was no hair on his head other than the odd strand but his eyebrows were thick and blonde.
A foreigner! Although he'd guessed he was foreign from the name Mao couldn't help but be a bit taken aback. Mr. Baker looked rather strange. Mao Lu had met many foreigners during his various jobs but he'd never met anyone that looked like Mr. Baker before.
"Take a seat" said Baker who walked towards a row of sofas that had a glass coffee table in the middle.
Mao obediently sat down. It was very comfortable.
He watched as Baker brought out a large envelope.
"Umm wait Mr. Baker, before you go into the inheritance. I think there might be a mistake" Mao Lu began. "I go by Mao Lu now and not Zhang Lu, also I've never met a Wang Cao in my life. Perhaps I'm the wrong person."
Mr.Baker raised a bushy eyebrow. He then opened the envelope in his hands and took out a picture. "So you're saying you're not the boy photographed here."
Mao Lu looked at the picture and audibly gasped. It was him. It was a picture from when he was around six or seven. He sitting on a rock near a rice field next to an old farmer. The farmer's name was Wang. "Old man Wang!" Mao Lu exclaimed. He couldn't believe it.
When he was young his parents loved to take him on trips around the countryside. It was because they said too much city air wasn't good for brain development. One day on a trip to the rice paddies in longsheng he'd met Old Man Wang. He'd been a friendly guy who showed Mao Lu and his parents around the area. He taught Mao Lu a lot about how to farm and the history of Longsheng county. They'd only met briefly and parted ways the same day they'd met.
Mao Lu couldn't believe that he'd been put in this man's will just because of that small meeting.
[1] I'm calling it University because I'm british and I'm not used to calling it College. I'm not used to saying High school either but in the UK you call high school sixth-form or college, so I just ended up calling it High school Cus I didn't want to confuse anyone.
Mao Lu entered his apartment the same way he'd left that morning, like a zombie. He crawled into his bed, curling into a ball, and fell unconscious straight away. He wasn't working until the following afternoon so that meant he had a lot of time to catch up on lost sleep.Or at least that's what he thought until.."Knock, Knock, Knock" someone came knocking at 23:15.At first Mao Lu tried to ignore it, surely they'd think he wasn't in and kindly just leave! But 10 minutes later they were still knocking and louder than ever.Mao Lu flung open the door, he just wanted to sleep more and enjoy his free time, he glared with bloodshot eyes at the short and cute man on the other side."What do you want Tanaka!?"Tanaka Kato1 was Mao Lu's friend and colleague from his part time job as a waiter at Cafe E'clair. Tanaka was an international student from Japan whose Chinese was excellent. He studied modern languages at Tsing Hao University. He and Mao Lu had become instant friends when they met 2 years ago during a shift, that friendship only thickening when they both found out the other was gay.Their interactions consisted of sending each other memes, spamming, swearing basically quality banter and drinking. They had each others backs like true brothers.At the moment Tanaka was standing in Mao Lu's doorway holding two beer bottles."Do you not remember messaging me?" Tanaka irritably replied, holding out his phone.On the screen the wechat app was on display and there could be seen a message sent by Mao at 10pm saying. "Bing Bing and Detong are getting married.""The moment I saw that I knew you needed to talk so I came over as soon as I finished work. Even Bei Lao2 came." Tanaka pointed behind himself. Only then did Mao Lu notice Tanaka's boyfriend, Bei Lao, lurking awkwardly in the doorway."Are you okay?" Bei Lao inquired, just like Tanaka he was concerned for Mao Lu.Bei Lao was an office worker so he had that standard office hairstyle. Even though he was quite tall his back was bit hunched, probably from spending hours stooped over a computer, so he appeared a lot shorter. He wore glasses, was slightly on the older side, and appeared cold and stoic. But in reality Bei Lao was very friendly, timid and quite sensitive."Yh, you're not planning to kill yourself or something are you?" Tanaka added warily whilst scanning Mao Lu's messy apartment.Other than the unwashed dishes piled in the sink and various dumped articles on the floor it didn't look like he'd gone out of his way to buy any charcoal grills3, and there were no knives lying around.Mao was offended. "What do you take me for!!! I wouldn't kill myself over this. It doesn't even bother me.""It doesn't." Tanaka and Bei Lao said in unison, with equally disbelieving and doubtful tones."..."Mao only sighed and walked into his apartment. "Just come in already.""About time you let us in." Tanaka harrumphed, strolling into the small flat like he owned the place, Bei Lao following closely behind in a more reserved manner.Tanaka kicked some clothes away and sat down and opened a beer. Whilst Bei Lao began picking up the clothes and folding them."You don't have to do that." Mao Lu quickly said, as he began picking up the clothes and scattered magazines himself, cleaning his apartment."No let me help." Bei Lao stubbornly demanded, not stopping and instead moving to the sink and washing the dishes.As the two cleaned Tanaka just lazily sat cross legged on the floor whilst drinking his beer, clearly having no intention to join in.Any stereotypes you would originally have about the Japanese being very polite, timid and clean are entirely broken once you meet Tanaka. He was loud, bold, impolite, and messy. Even though he looked cute and small like one of those bishounen boys in anime, Tanaka often told tales of his previous Yankee days back in High school. If Mao was a teacher he would have dreaded having Tanaka Kato in his class."All done." Bei Lao smiled, the apartment had gone through a complete transformation. From its earlier doom and gloom it was now clear, clean, and ordered."Awesome you guys did a great job." Tanaka clapped. Bei Lao and Mao Lu both glared at him, they didn't want to hear praise from the guy that didn't help.Soon they were all sitting on the floor drinking."So you're sure you're okay." Bei Lao asked again."Like I told you I already prepared myself. I'd been ready for this since they started dating 6 years ago. They've always been a beautiful couple that were madly in love with each other and looked great together. Even though Detong can be a fool and a complete arse most of the time, he still cares for Bing Bing deeply. That's the reason why they've lasted so long. A marriage was going to be on the horizon eventually. Marriage won't change the way things have been between all of us.""Wrong" said Tanaka, "Marriage changes everything. It's a lot more serious of a commitment, they won't have time for you like they did in the past. They'll move onto family planning and soon have kids running around and you'll end up being their Uncle Mao. Zhao Detong is straight as well, so if he even dared have an affair it wouldn't be with you.""Zhao Detong isn't that stupid he wouldn't have an affair! And I would never try anything!!!""Yh yh.. okay, I don't know enough about the guy" Tanaka rolled his big eyes, "You get the point though don't you? You won't even be able to entertain the thought of being with him like you used to, and if you still do it'll just be more painful for you. So my advice is to fully move on Mao. Find love, stop being such a wet blanket.""You've never actually been in a relationship or done anything with a guy right?" Tanaka bluntly asked.Mao blushed, his face going hot with embarrassment, "So what!?""I'm just saying, you need to test the waters a little bit. Go and find someone amazing, fall in love.""As if it's that easy.""It is that easy if you put yourself out there a little bit. Never going out, always working, and always pining after Zhao Detong. That just isn't healthy.""I'm not in the financial position to date. I barely have 200RMB to my name, and I still have outstanding debts. If I had time to date I'd rather spend it working."Tanaka scowled, "You're impossible, honestly."Bei's calm voice chimed in, "I agree with Tanaka. You working all the time and pining after Zhao Detong isn't healthy. You should go out and try dating a little. No one's ever ready to date, you might not be financially stable in even the next 10 years, rather than wait for too long try going for it now when you're young. I wasted most of my youth not coming out, not saying anything. I worked long stressful shifts and underpaid overtime for years. I'd practically given up on love and ever being happy, but then I met Tanaka during a business trip to Japan, and he changed my life. We've been together 3 years now. He gave me the courage to talk about it with my parents and be accepted. He made me a better man.Happiness is only around the corner Mao, you just need to reach for it."Mao was surprised since Bei was usually the quiet type and normally didn't say that much. Deep down Mao knew Bei was right, that he should try living a little but he honestly didn't know how to start."You are right." He conceded."Yes!" Tanaka pumped his fists in the air and excitedly squeezed Bei's arm. "Your awesome speech worked." he praised.Bei's ears went a little red and he just nodded "Un.""Gosh I know so many guys I can introduce you too." Tanaka squealed. "Of course only the best for you!"Mao immediately felt uncomfortable looking at the excited scheming eyes of Tanaka, it was just like Fei Bing Bing's eyes from earlier. Why did everyone want to play the matchmaker, honestly?After much discussion and drinking Tanaka decided that they'd all go to a popular cafe next weekend for some boyfriend hunting. Tanaka and Bei didn't leave until around about 2am which allowed Mao to finally crawl back into bed and get a well-needed rest.In the afternoon Mao got up and robotically prepared for his shift at the Cafe. As he walked out he noticed a pile of letters on his doorstep.Inwardly despairing he picked them up. Five of them were bank notices telling him what he needed to pay and how long he had to pay it and the consequences of not paying. It also looked like some interest had been added to his debt...Great oh joy sarcasm.The sixth letter was the one that surprised Mao. It was a black envelope. It had gorgeous calligraphy on the front, in gold strokes it said B&B law. What surprised Mao the most was that it was addressed to Zhang Lu. Zhang was Mao's name before he'd switched to using his Mother's maternal name 'Mao', after the incident.He'd used Mao for nearly six years now, he never got letters addressed to his old name and he'd moved a lot of times in the past few years and his address was under Mao Lu.He opened it curiously. The letter was from a man named Mr. Baker that worked at B&B law firm. According to the letter someone named Wang Cao had died and had given Mao Lu everything he owned in his will. Mr. Baker wanted Mao to drop by the office in Guomao so that he could claim his inheritance."An inheritance! For me! Who was this Wang Cao?" In Mao's head he ran through a list of acquaintances his parents had had. Most of his parents so called friends distanced themselves from the family the moment they went bankrupt, and after the incident only one or two had turned up to his Mother's funeral. His parents had had him quite late so his Maternal and Paternal grandparents were dead by the time he'd been in his teens. He had no close relatives, and there was no one with the name Wang related to his family.Was this a joke?1 Tanaka The name Tanaka means dweller in the rice fields. Kato One of my best friends, his last name is Kato, I have no idea what it means I just thought it sounded cool.2 'Bei' North 'Lao' wise. So his names Wise North3 Tanaka was worried that Mao Lu would try to commit suicide by burning charcoal via Carbon monoxide poisoning.__________________________________________GETTING AN INHERITANCE PT 2Mao Lu put the black envelope in his pocket. He'd check later on the computer at work to see whether this B&B Law firm really existed or not. He didn't have any money so he wasn't worth scamming, but one must always be very careful.Mao Lu walked to the bus stop and as he waited for the 658 bus, he heard the sound of a car stopping and a loud honk caught his attention. When he looked up he saw a silver Mercedes Benz and the familiar face of Zhao Detong smiling at him."Get in I'll give you a ride to work!" he called.Mao Lu felt slightly embarrassed since everyone at the bus stop was now staring at him. Hurriedly he ran into the passenger seat and buckled up."Where too today?" De Tong laughed."I'm working at Cafe E'clair today.""Awesome that was in my direction." De Tong said as he turned the car around.Mao Lu couldn't help but feel that Zhao Detong was really a good Brother to him."So I was thinking." Zhao Detong casually spoke as he weaved through the Beijing traffic. "It's time you stop being so stubborn and take my offer to work at my family's Company. With all the part time jobs you've been doing lately you work yourself practically to the bone yet you haven't even been able to get any savings at all. If you worked at my company it would be ten times better for you-""No. I refuse." Mao Lu cut De Tong off, not even bothering to look at him as he stared out the window, watching the streets flash by."Lu for crying out loud, is it really that hard to throw away your damn pride, you're in no position to act like this.""It's because I'm not in a position to pick and choose that I have to keep my pride and not take wantonly from you.""We're best friends, sworn brothers!" Zhao Detong yelled, "What's the problem with you taking from me and sharing things with me. That's what Brothers do. You constantly throwing aside my sincerity shows you don't care about our friendship.""Of course I care!""Then why-""I have my own principles Detong. I will survive with my own power. I only have High School level qualifications, if I went to work with you I wouldn't fit in with the others. They'd dislike me and think I had gotten to my position through cheating, which would be true."Zhao De Tong was angry and honked at a driver. "Does such a thing even matter Lu, who cares what people think.""I care. I refuse to work with you."De Tong sighed as he pulled the car next to Cafe E'clair."Fine Lu, fine but don't ever tell me I never tried to help you.""I wouldn't dare." said Mao Lu as he walked out of the car and headed towards the cafe not able to look back. There was no way Mao Lu could work with Zhao at his company, it was a matter of pride but also he wasn't sure if his heart could take it.-----A few hours later in the staff room, Mao Lu was on the computer searching for information about B&B law firm. It was real alright. B&B Law firm was a famous and successful legal company that only catered towards the super rich. The location of their main building was in Guomao, the same place written on the letter he'd been sent.Since it seemed credible and the building was nearby his work place, he decided to go and check it out after his shift. He had to clear up the misunderstanding since he didn't know a Wang Cao, there must have been a mistake.Tanaka entered the cramped staff room of Cafe E'clair, sneaking past the lockers and peering over Mao Lu's shoulder."What are you searching?""Arghh!" Mao Lu jumped, his heart thumping.Tanaka burst into laughter, "You're as sensitive as ever I see. Why are you always so tense hahaha."Mao calmed down and glared at the giggling Tanaka. He felt like screaming at him, but knowing Tanaka if he got mad that would only make him laugh more."What do you want?""What time do you get off break" Tanaka asked whilst wiping a tear from his eye."10 minutes from now, why?" Mao Lu felt suspicious."Oh it's just that Fei Bing Bing came to the cafe, she wants to talk."Fei Bing Bing was here to talk, Mao sighed he could already guess why."Okay thanks for telling me.""No problem."Mao Lu made his way to the busy store front of Cafe E'clair, it was four o'clock and well past the lunchtime rush hour but there were still customers crowding in for some authentic French style cakes, sweets, and coffee.Mao Lu had started working here three years ago. The owner was a French man in his fifties and he was a really kind and good boss that gave Mao any hours he could, and if there was food left over at the cafe he'd always let Mao take some home. Out of all of his part time jobs Mao Lu found the cafe to be his favourite.As he walked around the wooden tables he saw Fei Bing Bing sitting there with two slices of red velvet strawberry cake in front of her and two coffees. From her grey office clothes it was obvious that she'd just come from her father's company.He sat down opposite her and picked up a fork and began eating one of the slices of cake without saying a word.Bing Bing looked at him quietly for awhile and then said, "You should really take De Tong's offer Lu, he really wants to help you y'know. Why are you being so stubborn?"Mao Lu didn't respond to her, he just continued eating the cake. He'd already said everything he had to say to De Tong."When we were younger, De Tong and I didn't really have any kind of position in our parents companies and we still had go to University1. Whilst you were going through all your problems we couldn't help you but we can now. De Tong got promoted to executive last week, he came by to tell you this afternoon but he told me he didn't get a chance to and just ended up fighting...what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to worry about what others think, and it's not like De Tong will give you a high level position straight away. You can work from the bottom up and Lu will you listen to me!""I am listening. But I already told Detong no!""Oh for gods sake Zhang Lu Mao Lu...for once just think about yourself. Do you know how hard it is for De Tong and I to watch you struggling like this all the time. We always come to you for our selfish reasons and you've always been there for us through thick and thin. Is it so wrong that we want to give a little back.""It's not wrong" Mao said whilst rubbing his temples, "I'd just prefer it if you did it in a different way."Fei Bing Bing shook her head and sighed. "Are you working tonight.""Yes.""Where.""At the club obviously.""Then we'll continue this conversation at the bar.""..." Did they really have to continue the conversation? Mao Lu was certain he was getting a headache.He watched as she stood up and abruptly left the cafe. She looked pretty pissed Oh well. He stared at the intact cake and coffee she'd left behind, "more for me" he thought.----After his shift he took a bus into the Business district. It was around about the time that people were getting off work and heading home, the streets were filled with workers in suits and uniforms. Luckily he was wearing his cafe uniform that consisted of a white chiffon shirt buttoned to the collar with the E'clair logo on the breast pocket, and a pair of slim fitting black trousers. So he wasn't too out of place.He soon found the tall building belonging to B&B Law firm, it wasn't easy to miss, the building was very tall. It looked like it was made entirely of black glass- at least the exterior did- and across the the front in gold characters was B&B Law.He gulped a bit, it seemed rather impressive. He really hoped this letter was real and not a scam, he didn't want to be thrown out after walking through the entrance.Straightening up a little he mustered his courage and charged through the revolving doors. On the inside the lobby was huge, there was a seating area on one side, a cafe on the other, and straight in front were two assistants at the desk."Hello." Mao Lu greeted them a bit nervously, bowing. "I got this letter through the post advising me to meet a Mr. Baker." He extended the letter to one of the smiling desk assistants.The assistant looked Mao Lu up and down, he was very handsome but looking at his clothes, his long unkempt hair and piercing she ranked him down in her mind. "Maybe he's got the wrong building" she thought, but when she glanced at the letter she froze. He had a meeting with Mr. Baker. Baker was a platinum level member of the firm, he dealt mostly with dealings from overseas and V. I. Ps. His monthly revenue was probably in the millions, not just anyone could meet him."Two seconds." she said as she reached for the phone and pressed a number. On the first ring the call was picked up. "Hello Mr. Baker, I have a Mr. Zhang Lu here to see you.yes sir Okay." she put the phone down.She smiled brighter, and politely bowed to Mao Lu. "Sir, Mr. Baker has been waiting for you, let me take you to his office."Was it just Mao Lu's imagination or did this lady just get more polite?...The desk assistant personally escorted Mao Lu to a big and grand looking elevator. As they entered he stared in shock as she pressed the 25th floor, the highest floor. Don't they usually say that the higher the floor the more powerful a person was in an organisation.Mao Lu felt a bit overwhelmed.After two minutes the elevator finally stopped and they walked out into a very sleek office. There were bamboo roots and rocks placed almost randomly around, Mao guessed the man was really into Feng Shui. On one wall there was a mini waterfall and on the opposite wall there was huge fish tank filled with a whole family of clown fish. It was impressive to say the least."I'll be leaving now." said the desk assistant bowing deeply and then getting in the elevator.Mao felt at a loss, this place was huge."So you're Zhang Lu." said a strong voice, Mao looked towards his left and saw the tallest man he'd ever seen. He made Mao who was 6'2 feel short. Other than the man's impressively long legs he also had a rather long face, he had green eyes and wore thick rimmed glasses. He seemed to be balding as there was no hair on his head other than the odd strand but his eyebrows were thick and blonde.A foreigner! Although he'd guessed he was foreign from the name Mao couldn't help but be a bit taken aback. Mr. Baker looked rather strange. Mao Lu had met many foreigners during his various jobs but he'd never met anyone that looked like Mr. Baker before."Take a seat" said Baker who walked towards a row of sofas that had a glass coffee table in the middle.Mao obediently sat down. It was very comfortable.He watched as Baker brought out a large envelope."Umm wait Mr. Baker, before you go into the inheritance. I think there might be a mistake" Mao Lu began. "I go by Mao Lu now and not Zhang Lu, also I've never met a Wang Cao in my life. Perhaps I'm the wrong person."Mr.Baker raised a bushy eyebrow. He then opened the envelope in his hands and took out a picture. "So you're saying you're not the boy photographed here."Mao Lu looked at the picture and audibly gasped. It was him. It was a picture from when he was around six or seven. He sitting on a rock near a rice field next to an old farmer. The farmer's name was Wang. "Old man Wang!" Mao Lu exclaimed. He couldn't believe it.When he was young his parents loved to take him on trips around the countryside. It was because they said too much city air wasn't good for brain development. One day on a trip to the rice paddies in longsheng he'd met Old Man Wang. He'd been a friendly guy who showed Mao Lu and his parents around the area. He taught Mao Lu a lot about how to farm and the history of Longsheng county. They'd only met briefly and parted ways the same day they'd met.Mao Lu couldn't believe that he'd been put in this man's will just because of that small meeting.1 I'm calling it University because I'm british and I'm not used to calling it College. I'm not used to saying High school either but in the UK you call high school sixth-form or college, so I just ended up calling it High school Cus I didn't want to confuse anyone.
