Assistant Architect

Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 160: Panic

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Feelingself-conscience, Zhang Siyi brought his hand up to the back of his neck andsaid: "Actually, when I started speaking to the group of tourists, I startedremembering a little about what my professor said…. I guess some details stayedin my subconscious so they weren't all my own thoughts."

Gu Yusmiled gently and accompanied him around the periphery of the church. Whilewalking slowly he said: "This is very normal. As our predecessors have guidedus and told us what is right, what is wrong, what is beautiful, what is ugly,etc… Like Newton’s phrase 'If I have seen further it is only bystanding on the shoulders of giants,' not all of our ideas come fromthin air. Greek mathematicians from ancient times discovered the golden ratio whichis still used today. Since humans have their own minds and ideas, we aren'tmachines that rigidly recall information exactly as it was inputted. We refineour thoughts and use our own judgement to extract ideas and express ourselves.If you simply reiterated the ideas that were presented in a book, I would notcompliment you. Just because your ideas reflect something said by yourprofessor, it doesn't mean they weren't your own. It is proof that the ideas Tadao Ando wanted to express through his Church of Lightare being received."

Gu Yu's continuedcompliments caused Zhang Siyi heart to flutter. He was very excited to hear GuYu talk positively about him because in contrast, Zhang Siyi remembered how itwas when they first met. At that time, Gu Yu only seemed to hurt and severelycriticized him. However, look at him now! Gu Yu praised Zhang Siyi non-stop! – Isit true that I am better, or is it because Gu Yu is blinded by love?

In hisheart, Zhang Siyi snickered a bit. Regardless, he gladly received the goodwords.

Today, theweather was perfect. A cool summer breeze kept the temperature comfortable foreveryone. Inside, afraid of disturbing God's house, only whispers could beheard.

Zhang Siyiand Gu Yu finally wandered back to the entrance of the Church. Once inside, theysat in the back row. As they watched the sun light project a cross on the wall infront of them, they felt time slowly pass.

Gu Yu's mellifluoustone broke the silence: “When I got my job with X Firm, the company won abid for a project in Xi'an. Several of the designers went to inspect theproject site. Since we were nearby, we went to Lintong and visited the Tomb ofthe Terracotta Army**.

Zhang Siyimarveled: “Wow, isn’t that one of the eight wonders of the world!? I'veonly seen it on TV. How was it?”

Gu Yuchuckled: “The viewing area wasn't extravagant. It simply was a large pitfull of soldiers and horses. Standing on the viewing platform looking down intoit, visually the scene was very shocking. Even though you understood thehistory a little bit in the recesses of your mind, being there in person madeit difficult to comprehend. It was an indescribable feeling. At the time, therewere also some foreign tourists. I remember them saying that because theTerracotta Army was incredibly famous, they thought it would be exceedinglyspecial, but in reality, they thought it wasn't interesting at all.

Zhang Siyi:“…”

Gu Yupaused and continued: “At that time, a group of about six young peoplecame up behind us that was led by an old man. All of the members of the groupexpressed a moment of shock before changing to sadness. With solemn faces, somemembers of the group wiped tears from their eyes. The old man eyes were red aswell and his voice trembled. Since we thought he was probably an Archeologyprofessor with some graduate students, our design group quickly followed themto listen to what the old man had to say as they moved on. The Terracotta Armyrepresented the history of two thousand years ago. One can imagine the eightthousand statues in the army and all of the people who were enslaved to them.The craftsmen who were buried, the servants, horses, carriages… Everyone'sperception of what they saw will have a completely different meaning because oftheir own knowledge and understanding. In the eyes of an architect, a houseisn't just a home, but a work of art. It is also a craft that lasts throughtime and bears human civilization and history. The deeper your knowledge, themore you will understand and the more you will love it."

Extraordinarilycalm, the passage was said as if Gu Yu was talking to himself. However, ZhangSiyi knew Gu Yu was talking to him instead. Listening to his calm voice, ZhangSiyi could feel the deep love that Gu Yu had for his profession.

"It's great to be an architect…" Zhang Siyisaid sincerely.

“Yeah.”Gu Yu smiled, a simple conversation. The two seem to have the same heart and mind.It was not only Zhang Siyi that heard Gu Yu's speech. Lu Qiao and Tao Fei werenearby as well.

Whiletaking photos outside, Tao Fei spotted Gu Yu and Zhang Siyi going back insidethe Church. He followed them quietly and sat in the pews not far from where thetwo were sitting, listening.

Since peakingat Zhang Siyi’s sketchbook last night, Lu Qiao had been caught up in anextremely complex mood.

He was veryfond of Zhang Siyi, especially when he learned how hard-working Zhang Siyi wasdespite coming from a well-off family. Since Lu Qiao thought Zhang Siyi wasdifferent from a spoiled second-generation rich kid, he believed Zhang Siyi wasworthy of being a friend.

Lu Qiao ideologywas very deeply rooted. He involuntarily ranked people based on their socialand economical status and used that as a basis to determine who his friendscould be. There was a sparkle that Tao Fei and Gu Yu exuded that Lu Qiaogreatly admired. He thought Zhang Siyi had it too, but contrary to the seniors'ability, in Lu Qiao's mind, he and Zhang Siyi were at the same level.

Familybackground aside, Lu Qiao was proud of his accomplishments. After all, hisstarting point was vastly different and despite the gap, he was currentlyworking and socializing with the same wealthy people. To some extent, it provedhis own determination and work ethic.

Since hesaw how useful Zhang Siyi was during the C-City project and because they gotalong well during their business trip, he requested Zhang Siyi to be hisroommate for the company's trip to Japan. Because he thought that Zhang Siyi hadsimilar ethics and hobbies, he felt it would be easy to chat with him.

But in twodays, Lu Qiao found that the balance he had in his life was broken. In everyrespect, Zhang Siyi wasn't acting in the way the Lu Qiao imagined he would. Whenhe was playing with his mobile phone, Zhang Siyi was sketching. While hewandered aimlessly, Zhang Siyi and Gu Yu were talking about philosophy andlife. Suddenly, Lu Qiao realized he misjudged his own position.

Zhang Siyi,Gu Yu and Tao Fei were people of the world. As a result of being Zhang Siyiroommate and Tao Fei's game partner, he was always besides them. In comparisonto these bright and glamorous people, he was very humble and felt pathetic.

Feelinginferior and anxious, he sought to vent his frustrations. At that time, he sawZhang Siyi's sketch book and uncovered a huge secret. Panicked, his discoverymade him feel even more confused and began to doubt the world.

In thesepast two days, his original understanding of Zhang Siyi has been completelyoverturned. In addition, his working relationship with is boss wasdestabilized. Over the course of working with Gu Yu this past year and a half,he really admired his work ethics and thought he was a perfect boss, but itturns out….

His favorite colleague and most respected boss…… They’re gay!

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T/N:Terracotta Army: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army