Anchor Effect - Chapter 20.1: Blocking was worse than accepting

Among the villa staff, only Zhan Yang and Ye Yuchen shared a table for dinner.

Firstly, Zhan Yang followed Ye Yuchen daily, so there was no need for him to leave when it was time for dinner. Secondly, Ye Yuchen was truly bored, and having Zhan Yang by his side made the dinner table less desolate.

"Teacher Ye," Zhan Yang looked at Ye Yuchen as he entered and asked, "Will he join us for dinner?"

"Yes," Ye Yuchen had already accepted the idea. "Go get him a pair of bowls and chopsticks."

After the maid finished preparing the meals, she would return to her own home to cook, so she wasn't present in the villa at the moment.

"But..." Zhan Yang clearly didn't want to move.

Ye Yuchen didn't want to fuss about a meal, so he told Yu Xiu, "Go to the kitchen and fetch them yourself."

Fortunately, Yu Xiu didn't act like a big star anymore and went to the kitchen to get a set of dishes and chopsticks.

Normally, when Ye Yuchen and Zhan Yang ate, they would sit on opposite sides of the long table. Now that Yu Xiu was joining them, he naturally sat down next to Ye Yuchen.

Zhan Yang served a piece of fish to Ye Yuchen and said, "Teacher Ye, this is the hairtail fish that Uncle Huang caught this afternoon."

Uncle Huang was the husband of the serving aunt, and Yu Xiu naturally didn't know this information.

Zhan Yang mentioned it obviously to indicate to Yu Xiu that this was a world he couldn't fit into.

Ye Yuchen couldn't help but feel a headache.

It wasn't that he didn't notice. Sometimes, Zhan Yang would take advantage of being his personal employee and display a condescending attitude towards others.

Originally, Ye Yuchen didn't care as it didn't affect him. But Yu Xiu was different after all. In this regard, he would have to talk to Zhan Yang later.

Ye Yuchen carefully tasted the fish in his mouth and began to think about how to address it without hurting Zhan Yang's self-esteem.

After all, if Zhan Yang were to resign, finding a new physical therapist would be somewhat troublesome.

However, Ye Yuchen calmly glanced at Yu Xiu beside him. In comparison, Yu Xiu was indeed much more mature.

He ate his meal quietly, seemingly unfazed by Zhan Yang's provocations.

Indeed, as people grow older, they often prefer tranquility. Ye Yuchen was just thinking of advising Zhan Yang to enjoy the meal and stop talking when, suddenly, Yu Xiu, sitting next to him, spoke up, "Do you still keep in touch with Du Rui and the others?"

Hearing the familiar name, Ye Yuchen instinctively replied, "No, not anymore."

"Why?" Yu Xiu placed a piece of food in Ye Yuchen's bowl, asking, "Didn't you have a good relationship with them before?"

Back then, their relationship was indeed strong, but later, Ye Yuchen realized that acquaintances and friends were not the same thing. Acquaintances could eat and drink together, but they couldn't share their thoughts. When Ye Yuchen failed an audition for the dance troupe, he didn't want to confide in Du Rui and Gong Hao. This indicated that, in his heart, he considered them acquaintances, not true friends. But he was young at the time and didn't realize the distinction wasn't worth cherishing.

"It faded away after graduation," Ye Yuchen said. "Do you still keep in touch with your roommate?"

"Very rarely," Yu Xiu said. "He's been working on film sets for several years, but he found it too demanding. Now he's running a restaurant."

Ye Yuchen suddenly remembered that Yu Xiu had no friends back then. Over the years, many new people must have appeared in his life. Looking back at himself, apart from relatives, he truly had no friends.

"Very well," Ye Yuchen nodded and picked up the vegetables Yu Xiu had just placed in his bowl.

"Why haven't you contacted them anymore?" Yu Xiu asked again.

As expected, he still cared about Du Rui and Gong Hao, just like back then.

"Everyone's very busy," Ye Yuchen said. "It's normal not to keep in touch."

"Are you busy too?"

Of course, Ye Yuchen had plenty of free time; otherwise, how could he have time to write a script? However, he didn't intend to answer the question seriously. He was about to respond casually when he heard Zhan Yang, sitting across from him, suddenly say, "Of course, Teacher Ye is busy. He manages the entire operation of the villa. It's just that we're in the off-season now, so there isn't too much to do."

Zhan Yang spoke at length, as if he'd been holding it in for some time.

Only then did Ye Yuchen realize that Yu Xiu had been intentionally reminiscing about the past with him. Wasn't he also indirectly telling Zhan Yang that he didn't quite fit into this world?

"Oh, really," Yu Xiu said. For some reason, he suddenly looked seriously at Zhan Yang and began chatting with him. "Apart from overseeing the villa's operation, does Teacher Ye have any other side jobs?"

"Of course—" 

"Zhan Yang!" Ye Yuchen frowned and immediately scolded him.

Though Zhan Yang didn't know that Ye Yuchen was the screenwriter Xie Xiao, he did know that Ye Yuchen liked to write in his free time.

"I also manage the family business," Ye Yuchen stated after he finished addressing Yu Xiu, taking on a patriarchal tone. "Alright, let's eat quietly. No more talking."

Yu Xiu drank the fish soup, producing a loud slurping sound.

After a while, he put down the soup bowl and said, "The soup is delicious. Thank you, Uncle Huang."

Ye Yuchen: "..."

When it came to annoying people, Yu Xiu had certainly improved his skills.

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