It had been a while since Chen Pingjiang last saw Zhou Guanghan, and surprisingly, he actually missed the kid a little.
He made a call and arranged to meet at the main gate of the sports institute.
As soon as Zhou Guanghan saw him, he blurted out:
"Didn't Auntie come?"
That one sentence completely stumped Chen Pingjiang.
It took him a while to realize Zhou Guanghan was talking about Yan Yan.
"We're two guys going for a drink, why would we call her?"
Zhou Guanghan nodded and asked,
"Going to a barbecue joint?"
"No, we can't drink enough there. Let's find a small restaurant,"
Chen Pingjiang waved, signaling Zhou Guanghan to follow.
After they found a restaurant and sat down, Chen Pingjiang abruptly asked,
"I hear you've been getting close to a girl recently. Are you dating?"
Zhou Guanghan froze, then his dark face quickly flushed red.
"Manager Zhu told you, didn't she?"
"Heh heh, don't worry about who told me. With so many people in the shop, their eyes aren't blind,"
Chen Pingjiang picked up a peanut and crunched it in his mouth.
"No... not dating, just friends,"
Zhou Guanghan started to stammer.
Chen Pingjiang sneered,
"So what if you're dating? I won't say anything to you."
"Seriously, we're not dating. I just treated her to a meal, that's all."
Chen Pingjiang nodded noncommittally.
"How did you meet?"
"One evening, I was running on the sports field and accidentally bumped into her, and then..."
Zhou Guanghan even had a slight smile on his face as he spoke.
Even if they weren't dating, he had at least fallen for her.
It wasn't easy.
That dark-skinned kid, Zhou Guanghan, finally had a breakthrough.
Chen Pingjiang looked at his muscular physique, secretly worried he might overtrain one day and develop a liking for men.
"Bring her over to meet me sometime. I'll help you give her the once-over,"
Chen Pingjiang said.
While he said that, Chen Pingjiang actually wasn't too optimistic about Zhou Guanghan's crush this time.
The kid couldn't say boo for half a day.
If he met an equally honest and ordinary-looking girl, maybe it could work out.
But if he met someone lively and outgoing, the girl would probably die of boredom being with him.
Although Chen Pingjiang thought Zhou Guanghan was pretty good—honest, reliable, able to protect people, and not scheming—unfortunately, he didn't have dating priority in college.
The two men hadn't seen each other in a long time, so they drank to their hearts' content that night.
Plus, with the high work pressure recently, Chen Pingjiang accidentally drank too much, mixing liquor and beer.
"Uncle, are you alright? Don't push yourself if you can't handle it. Why don't you crash at my dorm for the night?"
Zhou Guanghan had a slightly stronger tolerance for alcohol.
Although his head was also spinning, he wasn't at the point where Chen Pingjiang couldn't walk straight.
"N-no... no big deal, you go... go back,"
Chen Pingjiang replied with his remaining lucidity.
After speaking, he wondered why he was in such bad shape today; usually, he drank this much and was fine, but today he was incredibly dizzy.
Seeing Zhou Guanghan still looked worried, Chen Pingjiang glared at him, then kicked him in the butt.
"G-get... get back quickly. You don't know... my alcohol tolerance yet?"
The two men often bantered and roughhoused.
Zhou Guanghan knew his Uncle didn't want to trouble him, but how could he possibly let him go back alone now?
"I'll call a cab to take you back to your dorm; you can't go like this."
Without further ado, Zhou Guanghan waved to the roadside and hailed a taxi.
Who knew Chen Pingjiang would get stubborn?
He refused to get in the car and instead pushed Zhou Guanghan into the taxi.
The taxi driver saw a drunkard, grumbled a couple of words, and drove away, fearing he'd be beaten or that Chen Pingjiang would vomit all over his car.
"You... kid, you're... not listening to me, huh? If you keep this up, I'll get angry,"
Chen Pingjiang said, feigning anger with a cold face.
This left Zhou Guanghan unsure whether to leave or stay.
Chen Pingjiang seemed intent on getting drunk today.
The entrepreneurial pressure had been immense recently.
In his past life, he had failed at entrepreneurship, and he didn't want to lose again this time.
Combined with constantly working without rest, he used this drink to release all his stress and depression.
Those who haven't experienced entrepreneurship will never know its ups and downs, nor can they truly understand the agonizing pain of failure.
Past failures were hidden in his memory, yet at times they would resurface, making Chen Pingjiang feel as if he were walking on thin ice.
Entrepreneurship itself is a low-probability event, a fight for survival.
Once you fail, you can't expect to recover in less than three to five years.
It requires immense willpower.
For a long time, the string in Chen Pingjiang's mind had been taut; any slight relaxation could send him plunging down a cliff.
The consequences of failure affect your life and family, but all you can do is wipe away your tears, face it alone, like a wounded wolf licking its own wounds.
Being a boss is not that easy.
Every day when you open for business, thousands or tens of thousands of yuan go out.
There are no rest days; as long as you're alive, you constantly have to worry.
This is reality, not a novel.
How could Chen Pingjiang possibly start a business effortlessly while also having a sweet romance, spending a lot of time on love every day, and at the same time having his career flourish?
"Did something happen? Uncle isn't usually like this."
In Zhou Guanghan's mind, Chen Pingjiang was such an optimistic and cheerful person; he could flip over and continue sleeping even if the sky fell, rarely having any mental burdens.
What was wrong today?
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Guanghan rummaged through Chen Pingjiang's pockets for a long time, pulled out his phone, and made a call.
The two of them sat quietly on the curb like that.
Zhou Guanghan puffed on his cigarette, occasionally turning his head to look at Chen Pingjiang with some worry.
Chen Pingjiang buried his head between his knees, covering it with his hands, unsure if he was awake or asleep.
"Why did he drink so much?"
Just then, a cool voice sounded, and Yan Yan slowly walked over.
As soon as Zhou Guanghan saw Yan Yan, he immediately grinned.
"Auntie."
Yan Yan was instantly exasperated.
"I'm not, don't call me that."
Zhou Guanghan gave an "I know, I know" look.
"I told him to come to my dorm, but he refused, insisting on going back by himself. I had no choice but to call you, Auntie."
Yan Yan was speechless.
She stopped arguing; Zhou Guanghan could call her whatever he liked.
Today, Yan Yan was wearing a thin khaki knit cardigan, which made her seem less aloof and added an air of dignified and generous intellectual beauty.
Looking at Chen Pingjiang, who was curled up, Yan Yan felt an indescribable emotion.
Today, she had inexplicably rushed over.
Zhou Guanghan had called saying Chen Pingjiang was drunk and asked Yan Yan for help.
She hadn't thought much of it at the time, but seeing Chen Pingjiang here, she felt a bit at a loss.
...
Chen Pingjiang had a long dream.
When he slowly woke up, his head was throbbing terribly from the hangover.
Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was a pure white ceiling.
He struggled to sit up, yawned, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and tried to recall what happened last night.
Apparently yesterday, he told Zhou Guanghan to leave first and not worry about him, but he didn't know how he fell asleep after that.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already in a hotel.
He looked around at the hotel environment, and suddenly a flash of khaki caught his eye, startling Chen Pingjiang.
"What the hell, who's this?"
Because Yan Yan had her head lowered, Chen Pingjiang didn't recognize her at first.
Yan Yan was a light sleeper and had already been awakened by the noise.
She slowly raised her head, and their eyes met.
"Why are you here?"
Chen Pingjiang was utterly baffled.
He couldn't for the life of him figure out why Yan Yan was here.
Was it a coincidence, or had Zhou Guanghan called Yan Yan?
Yes, that must be it.
Yan Yan had sat stiffly on the sofa all night, sleeping on and off.
Her neck ached terribly.
Rubbing her neck, she retorted,
"You don't remember anything at all?"
"I really don't remember. What happened?"
Chen Pingjiang said, stunned.
"Never mind, it's nothing."
Speaking of it, Yan Yan's face showed both shyness and annoyance; she didn't want to bring it up.
Last night, Chen Pingjiang fell asleep on the curb.
Zhou Guanghan and Yan Yan stared at each other helplessly, thinking this wasn't going to work.
Moreover, that kid was also mischievously sly; although he could have carried Chen Pingjiang back to the dorm by himself, he inexplicably booked a room for Chen Pingjiang in the nearby hotel.
Originally, after bringing Chen Pingjiang over, Yan Yan planned to leave and let Zhou Guanghan take care of him.
But Chen Pingjiang, for some unknown reason, grabbed Yan Yan's wrist and wouldn't let her leave, making Yan Yan think Chen Pingjiang was doing it on purpose, and she was still angry about it.
Yan Yan was held back and couldn't leave, and with Zhou Guanghan staying, it would be awkward for three people to be in one room, so he had to go.
In the end, although Chen Pingjiang stopped making a fuss and the dorm door was closed, Yan Yan simply leaned against the sofa.
Watching Chen Pingjiang's peaceful sleeping face and listening to his shallow breathing, she fell asleep.
"You didn't really sleep on the sofa all night, did you?"
Chen Pingjiang asked, feeling a little moved as he watched Yan Yan rub her sore neck.
"Isn't there another bed?"
Yan Yan glared at him but said nothing.
Even though there was another bed, she didn't dare to sleep in it.
First, it was already a bit strange for a man and a woman to be alone in a room.
And having to take off clothes to sleep?
She couldn't accept that.
For Yan Yan, who was a bit of a clean freak, sleeping in her jacket was simply out of the question.
Second, she was a girl after all.
What if she slept too soundly and Chen Pingjiang woke up and became a beast?
But she couldn't say these things to Chen Pingjiang.
"How did you sleep well on the sofa last night? Do you want to go back to sleep? I'll freshen up and bring some breakfast up for you."
Seeing Yan Yan still silent, Chen Pingjiang scratched his head.
After a long moment, Yan Yan coolly said,
"I'm going back to school."
Chen Pingjiang pursed his lips.
"Why the rush to go back? It's only half past six. Senior, aren't your dorm mates still asleep? Why not have breakfast before you leave?"
Yan Yan stopped what she was doing and sat back on the sofa.
The atmosphere in the room was awkward, subtle, and tinged with a hint of ambiguity.
Chen Pingjiang tried to break the silence, brazenly chuckling,
"Why are you acting so distant? We are boyfriend and girlfriend, after all."
As soon as he said that, Yan Yan immediately glared at him.
"Don't talk nonsense."
Chen Pingjiang feigned hurt.
"Senior, you still won't admit it? Back then, you used me as a shield. Although you didn't say it explicitly, that was your intention, especially at the barbecue joint."
"Alright, even if it was, it was fake."
Chen Pingjiang blinked his innocent big eyes, his face full of naivety.
"Really? But I took it seriously."
"You!"
When a scholar meets a soldier, reason cannot prevail; even a good woman fears a persistent suitor.
"I'm going to brush my teeth. Want to join?"
Seeing his objective achieved, Chen Pingjiang walked towards the bathroom, asking provocatively from the doorway.
"No."
"Tsk, and you call yourself a goddess? You don't brush your teeth when you wake up in the morning? Don't you have bad breath?"
"I do not have bad breath,"
Yan Yan rolled her eyes, sitting properly and primly on the sofa.
The timer was set to the wrong time.
To ensure continuous reading, the evening chapter has been released early.
(End of Chapter)
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