A Day in the Life of Xie Yuchen

At five o’clock in the morning, Xie Yuchen opened his eyes.

He didn’t get up until the alarm went off at 5:10.

He had seven places to sleep in this courtyard house (1) and chose a different one every day. On this particular day, he slept on a small bed in the attic. It was cramped there, but it gave him a sense of security. It had rained last night, and since he liked to listen to the sound of it, this was actually the best place to hear it.

There was a living room downstairs, along with a bathroom on the left side. After taking a shower and brushing his teeth, he poured himself a glass of water and sat down with only a towel hanging around his waist. He then used a hair dryer to dry his body and hair.

The room’s temperature and humidity remained constant, so his body was soon dried. He used the towel to absorb the last bit of water from his damp hair and then shook it out before turning the hair dryer off. He knew that using a blow dryer was bad for his hair.

There was a velvet-covered lounge on one side, which he leaned back against as he pressed a button on the nearby answering machine and took a drink of water. At about one in the morning, his secretary had gone over his schedule for the day.

Xie Yuchen quietly memorized it while determining that none of the things interested him. But he still had to do them.

After listening, he realized that there weren’t many important things to deal with today and breathed a sigh of relief.

The answering machine turned off automatically and Xie Yuchen flipped through the items on the coffee table next to his lounge. There was a box of cigars on it. He picked one up, sniffed it, and then put it back.

He smoked, but he wasn’t addicted.

At 6:40, soft music from a movie soundtrack began playing in the room as he headed into his dressing room.

The dressing room was a circular area that had a diameter of twenty meters and three huge mirrors in the middle. His figure may have given the designer the mistaken idea that he was someone who valued his style and appearance.

In fact, a man didn’t need much clothing. When he walked to an area that was set at a ninety-degree angle, the closet door automatically opened. The inside was full of long-sleeved T-shirts from the same brand. He picked one out. There wasn’t anything important going on today, so he didn’t want his signature color to make people nervous.

He had worn pink for nearly ten years now and involuntarily turned it into a color that represented his murderous aura, which was the complete opposite of his original intention.

He picked out a black one, put on jeans and canvas shoes, and then stuck a dagger on the back of his belt.

He stood in front of the mirror and ultimately decided that it was still too conspicuous.

As he went all the way through the living room and corridor— this courtyard house didn’t have any doors—he didn’t meet a single soul. There was no one here except for him. There was another courtyard at the entrance to this courtyard, which was connected by a tunnel.

This tunnel was so complex that it was impossible for ordinary people to get to his private kingdom.

At night, the only living things accompanying him were a pond full of small white fish in the courtyard. A part of the corridor ran right over the pond and there was a sensor there that would detect his footsteps and start pouring food into the pond. The white fish had been waiting for this moment and began scrambling around the corridor.

When he went into another room, there were more than thirty kinds of cell phones on the table, all with the same number. He chose the thinnest one and then turned to the other side, where a row of sunglasses sat.

He picked out a brown pair, put them on, and then dialed a number on the cell phone.

He took an elevator underground and followed along the tunnel until he reached the other courtyard. At 7:10, he passed more than a dozen cars in the garage. After half a second’s hesitation, he went out to the curb, bought a powdered sugar doughnut, and drank a bowl of soy milk.

He picked up a bicycle that was leaning against the wall by the jade shop’s entrance, unlocked it, and started riding it on the sidewalk.

At 9:30, he arrived at the cafe below his auction house. His secretary had been waiting at the door and handed him some papers. He read them carefully and then signed them. After having a cup of coffee at 10:30, Xie Yuchen got on his bike again and headed towards Panjiayuan. There were a lot of interesting people there.

When he arrived at Panjiayuan at 11:40, the sound of cooking came from the back room of Fatty’s shop. The shop was very small, and the way Fatty used the spatula against the wok sounded like he was striking a gong.

He walked in, only to find that the battle had already begun: Wu Xie was peeling potatoes and Zhang Qiling was fanning the coal stove’s fire for Fatty. These people were already familiar with the fact that Xiao Hua would often show up around this time and called out greetings.

Xiao Hua rolled up his sleeves, took off his sunglasses, fetched some water, and began washing the water chestnuts.

All the dishes were ready at 12:30, so Fatty made a phone call. The other end rang just outside the shop and the store quickly delivered the liquor. Lunch was now served.

They ate and drank leisurely until two in the afternoon, by which time the dishes had long gone cold. Xiao Hua helped Fatty inspect some of his inventory in the shop and then played badminton with Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling at three. Zhang Qiling swung the racquet too fast and it soon bent.

At 4:30, the sky was gradually growing darker so Xiao Hua biked home.

He finally arrived at 6:30, his phone ringing just as he entered the tunnel.

He talked on the phone for an hour and then made nine more calls. By that time, it was nine o’clock.

He put down his phone, took off his sunglasses, and went back to his yard. The hot spring pool began filling with water as he changed his clothes. He soaked in the open-air hot spring alone and then ate some fruit for dinner.

At 9:40, he looked around the courtyard and chose the office as his resting place for the night.

At 9:50, he got into bed and read some Snoopy comics (2) before taking two sleeping pills.

As it started to rain again outside, he remembered that phone call.

He got out of bed, went into the living room, picked up a cigar, and then put it back down again. He turned on his home theater to watch a movie and ended up falling asleep on the couch by eleven.

<Extra: Birthday><Table of Contents><Notes from Rain Village>

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TN Notes:

(1) It’s also called a quadrangle. Picture below:

(2) Snoopy is Charlie Brown’s dog in the comic “Peanuts”. More info here.

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Yvette Note: The pinyin of “A Day in the Life of Xie Yuchen” is “Jie Yu Hua de Yitian”. 解 is a heteronym and is pronounced as “Xie” in “Xie Yuchen” but “Jie” in “Jie Yuhua”. “Jie yu hua” is actually an idom that means “an empathetic flower who listens to and understands people”

Translated by: Yvette
Edited by: merebear226