Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It happened to be the weekend. Zhou Yi organized a gathering, specifically inviting several close friends to his high-end bar to taste his prized Romanée-Conti 1945 vintage wine.

Among the friends were a lawyer, a doctor, some who started their own businesses, and some trust-fund kids who obediently followed family arrangements to work in state-owned units or big companies.

Everyone gathered in Zhou Yi's private area, sitting in groups of twos and threes, tasting wine and chatting.

Nan Shuyi quietly walked in but didn't say a word to anyone. When others greeted him, he only nodded in response.

Zhou Yi, working the room like a social butterfly, came over. Seeing Nan Shuyi morosely drinking alone, even the fine wine seemed to taste bitter like medicine to him.

Nan Shuyi occasionally scrolled on his phone, but he had never been addicted to scrolling before.

Zhou Yi curiously leaned over to peek at his phone screen: "Something on your mind?"

Usually, even when bored, Nan Shuyi wouldn't stare at his phone for so long. Not long ago, he won first place in the Shanghai International F1 Grand Prix and hit the trending charts without even bothering to check it. So what was he looking at this time?

Zhou Yi had heard his father mention that Nanyuan and Jiangda were about to start a business collaboration.

Nan Shuyi slumped lifelessly on the sofa: "No."

"Nanyuan and Jiangda are going to cooperate, right?" Zhou Yi, loving the excitement, continued, "You're not really going to listen to your dad and marry that Jiang guy, are you?"

Nan Shuyi glanced at his phone screen again: "Maybe."

Zhou Yi got so excited that he knocked over his wine glass. The friends sitting at the bar looked over, and he said it was nothing before they continued chatting.

He laughed: "Didn't you say it was impossible to marry a man?"

Nan Shuyi felt inexplicably annoyed: "I made a bet with my dad. I agreed to two conditions: one is to marry Jiang Yicen, and the other is that he'll give me three companies to manage on my own. As long as I deliver results, he'll transfer my mother's shares to me. Just marrying a man—it's not like I'm losing anything. What can he gain from me? My property? Or me as a person? We can get divorced after marriage." That was his plan.

Zhou Yi wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but finding this theory quite reasonable, he said: "That doesn't seem bad. But your dad isn't really an unreasonable person. Why would he make you marry Jiang Yicen?"

Nan Shuyi crossed his legs and glanced at him: "Reasonable? Are you blind? People only get more muddled as they age, that's why he did something like this."

Zhou Yi didn't feel right badmouthing Nan Shuyi's father. After all, he wasn't the one involved, so he couldn't empathize with Nan Shuyi.

He switched topics: "When are we going to drink to your wedding? I need to plan the bridal chamber pranks properly."

Nan Shuyi remained expressionless: "How about I tell your dad you want to get married?"

Zhou Yi raised his hands in surrender: "Hey, don't! I don't want to board that marriage ship."

In his father's eyes, Nan Shuyi was the golden child. If his father knew Nan Shuyi was getting married before him, he would never let him hear the end of it.

He raised his glass: "Drink up."

Nan Shuyi had just taken the glass but hadn't drunk yet when his phone vibrated. He saw it was a landline number and thought it was probably a scam call, so he didn't answer.

The landline called a second time, and only on the third did Nan Shuyi pick up. After a brief conversation, he set down the glass of wine that cost several thousand dollars a sip.

Zhou Yi noticed the call came from a landline. Who still uses a landline these days? Could it be a scam call?

Seeing Nan Shuyi get up to leave, Zhou Yi asked, "Where are you going?"

Nan Shuyi: "Something came up."

Zhou Yi didn't believe him: "I saw it. You answered a landline. You should get a scam-blocker app."

Nan Shuyi: "Drink your wine, mind your own business."

Zhou Yi: "I went to all this trouble to open this bottle, and you're not going to drink it? You said you wanted to drink just a couple of days ago."

Nan Shuyi: "Next time."

He grabbed his coat and headed out quickly, not even taking the time to explain to the other friends.

One friend: "Why did Master Nan leave?"

Zhou Yi shook his head: "No idea."

Another friend: "You two hang out together every day, and you don't know?"

Zhou Yi: "Damn, I'm not a mind reader. How the hell should I know? Come on, drink."

Since it involved Nan Shuyi's privacy, Zhou Yi wouldn't say anything unless Nan Shuyi mentioned it himself. But seeing him leave in such a hurry was unusual. Could someone have broken Master Nan's unflappable composure?

·

Jiang Yicen used the little money he had to buy a bottle of soda from the small shop. He had drunk Coca-Cola before and remembered it being very sweet. His mother didn't allow him to drink too much because too much sweet drink could cause cavities. He thought he would never get to drink it again.

As soon as he opened the cap, fizzy bubbles rose up. Before even drinking, he could smell the lemon fragrance. He cautiously took a small sip. Compared to tea, the taste of Coke seemed to suit him better. Memories of his family filled his mind. He finally drank Coke, but there was no one to nag him about it anymore. The lemon taste left a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Nan Shuyi's car was too big to fit, so he parked at the alley entrance and walked toward the address Jiang Yicen had given him.

The streetlights in the small alley weren't very bright. There was wind at the entrance. Only one or two pedestrians were on the road, making it much quieter than the neighboring street. He wondered how Jiang Yicen ended up in this alley.

He turned a corner and first caught sight of a slender silhouette under the streetlight. Under the light, a figure was taking tiny sips of Coke, not making a dent.

Nan Shuyi recognized it was Jiang Yicen even without seeing his face. He recalled that during their blind date, Jiang Yicen had also taken small sips of a bowl of light chicken soup. He drank it very seriously, as if savoring it slowly. If it wasn't an act, Jiang Yicen was indeed a young man with impeccable manners.

He had seen the other two Jiang brothers on other occasions, and they were completely different from Jiang Yicen. That wasn't to say they lacked manners—Jiang Gongming's ex-wife had been strict with them. Maybe Little Liuzi picked up some Western manners overseas.

Right now, Jiang Yicen stood alone under the streetlight, holding a Coke, waiting for him. He looked a bit pitiful, like someone who had time-traveled into the wrong era. He stood straight, not like others who would shift their weight after standing too long. He had good posture whether standing or sitting, effortless and natural.

He took small sips to quench his thirst, but the ice-cold soda made him shiver.

He heard footsteps and turned around, meeting Nan Shuyi's gaze.

Nan Shuyi was exceptionally tall. Today he wore a chic French-style plaid coat, a dark blue knit sweater, a casual tie, black suit pants, and short boots. With broad shoulders and a narrow waist, it was a fashionable and simple look that fully displayed his tall figure.

Jiang Yicen still thought of Nan Shuyi as a fashion-forward man. His outfits were really nice. If it were his own era, Nan Shuyi would definitely be favored by many society debutantes.

Nan Shuyi stopped two meters away, hands in his pockets: "How did you find this place? I've lived in this city for so many years and never been down this alley."

Jiang Yicen smiled shyly at him: "I was just exploring."

Nan Shuyi was about to make a snarky comment, but the smile made him forget: "You sure know how to find hidden spots. My car can't fit in here, so we have to walk."

Jiang Yicen, clutching his Coke, followed him: "Thank you," he said. He was grateful Nan Shuyi had come to get him on such a cold night.

It was only when Nan Shuyi got close that he noticed how pale his face and lips were, the tip of his nose red from the cold, and his thin clothing. The temperature was barely above freezing, no wonder he was shivering.

"It's on my way. How long have you been outside?"

"Two and a half hours."

Nan Shuyi took off his coat: "Put this on. It's still a bit of a walk from here."

Without a doubt, Jiang Yicen had an upright posture, wearing a well-tailored casual suit with a V-neck wool sweater inside, making him look like a rich young master. But in Nan Shuyi's eyes, Jiang Yicen, standing in the winter wind waiting for him in such thin clothes, looked extremely clumsy and kind of cute.

"Thank you." Jiang Yicen didn't refuse. His hands were indeed freezing, and he was still holding a bottle of cola.

To make it easier for him to put on the coat, Nan Shuyi took the cola from his hand and said, "You're so used to cold drinks abroad you forgot you can get hot ones at the tea shop?"

Jiang Yicen had just borrowed the shop owner's phone and saw the familiar cola logo, so he bought it without thinking much. He could handle even colder weather, but he didn't expect Nan Shuyi to notice.

The coat was roomy and warm, with a faint tea fragrance on it, probably had perfume on it.

Jiang Yicen slowly warmed up. He was grateful that Nan Shuyi had answered his call, otherwise he'd have frozen out there tonight.

However, he couldn't respond to the topic of "studying abroad", so he just smiled faintly and subtly changed the subject to the new milk tea.

He said in a serious tone, "Then I'll listen to you and buy hot milk tea next time." Faced with a question he couldn't answer, he could only play dumb.

Nan Shuyi glanced at him without speaking.

Listen to you. Tsk.

It was supposed to get colder the next day, and the wind at the alley entrance blew even stronger. Nan Shuyi quickened his pace back to the car.

Nan Shuyi asked Jiang Yicen, "Have you eaten?"

Jiang Yicen replied, "Not yet."

He had only left the teahouse at 4:30, walked for two and a half hours, and now he was indeed hungry, so naturally he couldn't handle the cold either.

Nan Shuyi asked, "What do you want to eat?"

Jiang Yicen didn't know what restaurants were available outside, so he said, "Anything is fine, I'm not picky."

Nan Shuyi drove for ten minutes to a nearby shopping mall and went to a Cantonese restaurant. He ordered two bowls of steaming hot eight‑treasure chicken soup.

The waiter brought the soup over. Nan Shuyi once again saw Jiang Yicen drinking the soup slowly and methodically. The spoon touched the soup bowl without making a sound, but the soup in the bowl gradually decreased. When the soup touched his lips, he pressed a tissue to the corner of his mouth. Every move was quite a pleasure to watch.

Nan Shuyi thought to himself: It really doesn't look like an act; he must have spent years studying table manners abroad.

He didn't look away and saw Jiang Yicen pause, the hand holding the spoon frozen for a moment. "Not good?"

Jiang Yicen shook his head. "It's not that."

It was just that the taste was different from what he had drunk before. His family's restaurant had a very authentic Cantonese chef who had studied under the imperial chef of the palace and was skilled in making Guangdong-style slow-cooked soup. In comparison, the soup here tasted a bit bland. The soup made by his family's chef was lighter and more elegant in color, but when it entered the mouth, one could taste the sweetness of the medicinal herbs and the umami of the chicken broth. Sweet on the first sip, with a lingering aftertaste.

He was afraid Nan Shuyi might think he was too picky or ill‑mannered, so he explained further: "This is a bit different from the eight‑treasure chicken soup I've had before. The dangshen in this soup isn't aged enough, so the flavor is not rich enough. This soup needs to be simmered for at least three hours to taste good. The essence of chicken soup is in the broth. And most importantly, the soup I used to drink had some lean meat added. The mixture of meat juice and chicken soup gives a different flavor, more refreshing and delicious, but this soup obviously doesn't have it."

Nan Shuyi, who usually drank soup as if it were water, said, "Your family is quite particular. Do you have a deep understanding of food?"

"My family is particular about what we eat," Jiang Yicen noticed that he had said too much, so he smiled and said, "It's not really deep understanding, just a little bit of knowledge."

The waiter happened to come over to serve the dishes, so he dropped the topic and instead praised the dishes that were brought up. Nan Shuyi, however, seemed thoughtful.

This Cantonese restaurant belonged to a subsidiary under their Nanyuan Group, and its revenue had been declining for three consecutive years.

Before leaving, Nan Shuyi excused himself to go to the restroom and asked Jiang Yicen to wait for him at the door.

Jiang Yicen didn't know the whole story, so he walked out first.

As soon as he came out of the private room, a tall man also walked out of the adjacent room. The man looked at Jiang Yicen several times. It wasn't until Jiang Yicen walked out holding Nan Shuyi's coat that the man realized he had been ignored by Jiang Yicen. Frowning with displeasure, he called out to him.

"Jiang Yicen, what are you doing here?"