Chapter 28 Meeting the Rival

Chapter 28 Meeting the Rival in Love

Lin Wenjun was called into the company early in the morning by Lin Zaishan.

His assistant called, saying he needed to bring over the quotation documents. Lin Wenjun didn't dare delay—he hung up and drove straight to the company. To be honest, he was a bit nervous inside—his big brother hadn't looked happy when he left last night. But after waiting at home all evening, no call came to interrogate him, so his anxious heart finally settled down.

If Yuan Che had actually ratted him out, his aunt would have blown up his phone last night. Looked at that way, that kid could keep his mouth shut.

But then, remembering Yuan Che's face from last night, his heart started itching again, like a cat scratching at it, over and over. He'd thought at first it was just the booze making him desperate for anyone, but who would've guessed that when he woke up in the morning, he still couldn't stop thinking about the guy. Thinking it over, he had to admit it—he was really hooked.

But being hooked was one thing; how to get him was another.

The biggest obstacle right now wasn't even Yuan Che's feelings—he was a little flirt in the gay scene, and he could get whoever he wanted, easy peasy. No, what really worried him was his big brother's attitude. Wasn't there a saying, "Don't dip your pen in the company ink"? After all, this was his brother-in-law. If he made a move on the guy, would his big brother ever let him off the hook?

Thinking this, he took a deep breath and pushed open the office door.

By the floor-to-ceiling windows, Lin Zaishan was leaning back in his office chair, reviewing documents. Hearing footsteps, he glanced up, then lowered his head again to keep reading. Lin Wenjun tiptoed cautiously toward the desk. Seeing that the man was busy, he let out a sigh of relief. He walked around to the other side of Lin Zaishan's desk and was about to hand over the folder when the other man said flatly, "Sit."

Just that one word made Lin Wenjun's heart drop. He didn't dare hesitate and immediately sat up straight in the chair across from him, waiting for Lin Zaishan to lay down the law.

But then Lin Zaishan didn't say another word. He just stared at the documents, completely ignoring him, as if Lin Wenjun was invisible. At first, Lin Wenjun waited patiently, but after a while he couldn't take it anymore and forced himself to say, "Bro."

Lin Zaishan didn't answer, still reading. After about two or three seconds, he suddenly looked up and fixed his gaze on the person opposite.

The moment their eyes met, Lin Wenjun almost instinctively lowered his head. Oh crap, he thought, this is bad. Looks like he'd spoken too soon. Sure enough, last night's incident wasn't going to blow over. What should he do? His mind raced, and after thinking it over, he figured he might as well just get on his knees and beg for forgiveness. No matter what, confess first. Lin Zaishan wouldn't actually beat him up just over his brother-in-law, would he?

With that thought, he gained a bit of confidence. But the other man's prolonged stare was making his skin crawl. Fine, Lin Wenjun steeled himself, took a deep breath, and looked up to meet his gaze. He only saw Lin Zaishan frowning, his eyes locked onto the bruise on Lin Wenjun's forehead.

Lin Wenjun rolled his eyes upward and then remembered the bruise on his forehead. Last night when he came out of the parking lot, it was pitch black and he tripped on a step, smacking his forehead on the edge of the step. It was all swollen and purple.

"Bro—" he started, but before he could finish, Lin Zaishan cut him off.

"Did you and Yuan Che get into a fight?"

When he asked that, Lin Zaishan's mind had already run through several ways to deal with this kid. Lin Wenjun was in his twenties, always hanging out with bad company, and getting into drunken brawls was pretty common for him. But the atmosphere last night when he showed up didn't seem like that, did it?

"Hey, you've got me all wrong, bro," Lin Wenjun waved both hands, protesting his innocence loudly. "I fell last night on my way home 'cause I wasn't watching where I was going!"

Lin Zaishan gave him a skeptical look, clearly not buying it.

When he got home last night, he'd taken a shower and gone straight to sleep. He hadn't actually noticed any injuries on the little gay. He'd grabbed the guy's arm, twisted his ear, yanked his hair... that should be everything. Unless... had Lin Wenjun been the only one who got beaten up?

"For real, bro!" Lin Wenjun jumped to his feet, agitated. "If you don't believe me, go ask your brother-in-law! I didn't do a thing last night! If I'd actually gotten into a fight, I'd tell you—do you think I'd have the guts to lie to you?"

Lin Zaishan looked at him flailing his arms around, his eyes lingering on the bruise for another two seconds. After thinking it over, he decided it probably wasn't a lie.

"Fine." He closed the folder on the desk and tapped his fingers twice on it. "I have a meeting soon. Make it quick."

"Alright, alright," Lin Wenjun quickly agreed. "Quick is good."

Lin Zaishan shot him a look, leaned back in his chair, and said sternly, "From now on, if the old lady asks you to do anything, you call me first, got it?"

"Okay, okay, I'll report to you right away!"

"Next," Lin Zaishan paused, tilting his chin to signal him to sit, "And stay away from those shady places from now on."

Lin Wenjun quickly sat back down, all proper, and nodded. "Okay, okay."

"Lastly," Lin Zaishan stopped, a flicker of barely noticeable discomfort crossing his face, then he raised his voice to command again, "And stay away from Yuan Che from now on."

"Okay, okay—" Lin Wenjun nodded automatically, then realized something was off. He looked up, puzzled, and asked, "Why?"

Lin Zaishan had been suppressing his anger all day, and this question made him lose it completely. "What do you mean, 'why'? Do you think Yuan Che is anything like you?"

Hearing this, Lin Wenjun got a little pissed off. What did he mean, "like you"? He cast a resentful glance at Lin Zaishan, and his defiance started bubbling up. You really think your little brother-in-law is some pure, innocent little lamb? Last night when they were rolling dice, that kid was wilder than anyone.

And this? "Like me"?

"What are you looking at?" Lin Zaishan was furious now. "Got a problem? Did I say something wrong?"

"No problem..." Lin Wenjun muttered halfheartedly, his eyes darting to the side, his mouth curling downward.

He got it now. So this was what it looked like when a man gets a wife and starts siding with outsiders—even turning against his own brother to side with the brother-in-law. He shot another quick glance at Lin Zaishan, unable to hold back his sarcastic remark.

"But hey," he drawled, his tone laced with a bit of schadenfreude, "I think my aunt has a point. Your wife's brother ought to see a bit of the world, meet some new friends. I've never seen a young person who doesn't even have a phone."

At those words, Lin Zaishan's face darkened. "Did he ask to borrow your phone?"

Lin Wenjun raised an eyebrow, deliberately teasing.

"Talk!" Lin Zaishan slammed a hand on the table.

That made Lin Wenjun flinch. Frowning, he looked at Lin Zaishan and said indignantly, "No... he didn't. My aunt already gave him instructions."

Lin Zaishan relaxed a little, thinking the old lady at least had some sense. He glanced at the person opposite and couldn't help sighing inwardly—just looking at that useless expression gave him a headache.

Last night before bed, he'd thought about it. That little gay was so naive, and after spending a day with Lin Wenjun, he'd started asking all sorts of improper questions. It had to be this brother who led him astray.

Today, he'd originally intended to teach Lin Wenjun a lesson, but now that the guy was sitting in front of him, he didn't know how to start. After all, in everyone's eyes, Yuan Che was just his "brother-in-law." As a brother-in-law himself, sticking his nose so far into things seemed a bit strange.

Forget it, he told himself. Just make sure the little gay doesn't cross paths with this unreliable brother from now on.

He was about to let the guy off when he heard a mumble from across the desk.

"If he can't touch a phone, that's fine, right? But the guy can write letters?"

Letters?

Lin Zaishan's head snapped up to look at Lin Wenjun. "How do you know he can write letters?"

"He told me himself," Lin Wenjun said lazily, looking at him with a hint of smugness. "He even asked me to mail a letter for him."

Lin Zaishan's heart sank. A bad feeling crept over him—so the little gay had actually secretly written a letter to Yuan Simiao.

"Did you help?"

"No."

"Where's the letter?"

"Still with me."

"Okay," Lin Zaishan breathed a sigh of relief. "Leave the letter and you can go."

"Oh—" Lin Wenjun replied reluctantly, fishing the letter out from the inner pocket of his jacket and placing it on the desk with some hesitation.

"I'm off then, bro."

Lin Zaishan shot him a sidelong glance and couldn't help adding, "Until that bruise on your forehead heals, don't go back to Mom's place. Understand?"

"Got it—"

Lin Wenjun answered, then shuffled out awkwardly.

Once the office door closed, Lin Zaishan picked up the letter.

The envelope bore a neatly written address in impressively bold handwriting. He frowned, suddenly feeling the address looked oddly familiar. Had Yuan Simiao been living near his place all along?

He flipped it over to check the seal—it wasn't fully sealed, just a single fold, with a small gap peeking open.

Without hesitation, he opened it. And then, the next second, he froze... because the first line of the letter clearly read—

"Dear Xiaozhou."

By the time he reached the entrance of the tea house, Lin Zaishan's frustration was already stuck in his throat.

His assistant had tracked down the place, saying the tea house Yu Yizhou ran was one of the city's top high-end establishments. Lin Zaishan had scoffed when he heard that—a tea house is a tea house, what's with the "high-end" nonsense?

But when he actually got there, he had to admit it was pretty impressive.

The storefront wasn't on the main street; it was tucked away down a side road. He followed the GPS and drove around the block a few times before finding it. Although the tea house was in the city center, it stood as a standalone two-story building deep in the alley, its outer walls made not of common stone but of grayish-green ceramic bricks stacked neatly together.

Lin Zaishan narrowed his eyes, staring at the exterior for a long while. His professional instinct kicked in, and he couldn't help but mentally calculate the cost—this kind of design and construction required reliable suppliers and a skilled foreman; no hobbyist investor could pull it off just by throwing money at it.

From that perspective, when it comes to relationships, Yu Yizhou might be questionable, but at least when it came to renovations, he had good taste. But so what if he had good taste? He gave a disdainful snort inwardly—he'd seen plenty of gay men with good taste; it was practically their innate talent, and he didn't want any part of it.

With that disdain, he pushed open the door and walked in.

A young woman was at the front desk. She looked up at him with a professional smile and said in a polite but not overly warm tone: "Sir, do you have a reservation?"

"No."

"I'm sorry, but we're reservation-only. We're fully booked today. Would you like to leave your number, and we can—"

Before she could finish, the person addressed as "Dear Xiaozhou" came downstairs.

That day, Yu Yizhou was wearing a dark blue turtleneck sweater with dress pants, same style as when they'd met a few days ago. He came down the stairs with his head held straight, his steps unhurried. Lin Zaishan watched him come down, and the first thought that popped into his head was—does this guy practice walking downstairs at home every day?

When Yu Yizhou saw Lin Zaishan, he was clearly startled for a moment, then broke into a smile.

"Mr. Lin? What brings you here?"

Lin Zaishan stood by the front desk, hands in his pockets, looking relaxed. He glanced at Yu Yizhou and said lightly: "Just passing by. A friend mentioned this place was good, so I thought I'd check it out. Didn't realize it was your shop."

Like hell he was passing by. He'd skipped that afternoon's meeting, had driven a full hour to get here. Ever since he saw that letter, that frustration had been building up; he couldn't swallow it without making a trip.

Yu Yizhou came down the stairs and waved to the front desk girl. "He's a friend, it's fine."

The girl stepped aside. Yu Yizhou walked up to Lin Zaishan, extended his hand, and said with easy grace: "What a coincidence. Since you're here, want to come upstairs? I just got a new batch of rock tea."

Lin Zaishan shook his hand for two seconds before letting go.

"Sure, I'll sit for a while."

Yu Yizhou smiled, made an inviting gesture, but his eyes darted toward the door—quick, barely noticeable.

But Lin Zaishan caught that look immediately.

"No need to look," he said, turning his head slightly, his tone flat. "Yuan Che is at my mother's place. It's just me today."

With that, he didn't look at Yu Yizhou again, headed upstairs on his own, hearing Yu Yizhou's footsteps pause before he followed.

Lin Zaishan walked in front, his pace neither hurried nor slow. Even though the thought of Yu Yizhou's "looking for someone" glance irritated him, the knot in his chest had eased quite a bit.