The two of them chatted for a while longer, then Wang Shuo got up to take his leave.
On the way toward the door, a black venomous snake caught Wang Shuo’s eye.
“This one’s not bad, give it to me.”
“Aren’t you flying back home in a couple of days?” Guo Chengyu deliberately reminded him. “This snake is highly poisonous. Even if you take it from me, you can’t bring it through customs. Just leave it here and raise it.”
Wang Shuo thought it over. “True.”
Just then Jiang Xiaoshuai happened to come looking for Guo Chengyu and, from a distance, saw Wang Shuo walking over with him.
“My boy*,” Guo Chengyu pointed out to Wang Shuo.
*傍家儿 (bàng jiār) is colloquial slang. But here it’s a joking, possessive way to refer to someone you “keep,” or are closely attached to (like a pampered/kept person or simply “my boy”). In context Guo is informally, a bit cockily, presenting Jiang Xiaoshuai as the person he’s “keeping”/ “his boy.”
Wang Shuo glanced at Jiang Xiaoshuai and gave Guo Chengyu a heavy slap on the shoulder.
“Lucky you. That kid’s eyes are really pure.”
“‘Kid’?” Guo Chengyu snorted a laugh. “He’s a year older than you.”
Wang Shuo couldn’t help sighing. “You two are really a pair. Standing together you look like children playing house.”
“Want me to introduce you?” Guo Chengyu asked.
Wang Shuo, “Better not, afraid I might fall for him.”
With that he quickly withdrew from Guo Chengyu’s side, veering off so he and Jiang Xiaoshuai were like two parallel lines that didn’t intersect.
After Wang Shuo left, Jiang Xiaoshuai even specially turned his head to give him another look, then casually asked Guo Chengyu, “Another one to watch the snake park?”
“What ‘watch the park’?” Guo Chengyu said. “He’s an old classmate.”
Jiang Xiaoshuai offered a fair assessment, “He really looks like a waiter.”
“Yeah,” Guo Chengyu laughed. “He ‘served’ Chi Cheng for three years back then.”
Jiang Xiaoshuai’s expression froze; a moment later he caught on, surprise flashing in his eyes.
“Wang Shuo?”
Guo Chengyu pinched Jiang Xiaoshuai’s cheek. “Smart.”
Jiang Xiaoshuai looked as if he were facing a formidable foe.
Sweetness stirred in Guo Chengyu’s heart; he purposely asked, “What’s this? Feeling threatened?”
Jiang Xiaoshuai gave a cold snort. “He’s your love rival. I’m worried for you.”
At first Guo Chengyu didn’t get it; after mulling it over he finally understood what Jiang Xiaoshuai meant. Sure enough, he was still stuck in that dead-end alley!
———-
