Drunken Night

At ten past eight in the evening, Zhao Danshi was still working overtime.

When he first joined the company, the contract given by HR stated a nine-to-five schedule, but who knew that after actually starting work, nine-to-ten couldn't even cover it. Zhao Danshi vigorously blinked his reddened eyes, reached out to massage the back of his neck, and planned to stand up to pour a glass of water. Just plain water; he had drunk too much coffee today, and his heart was already feeling somewhat uncomfortable, so he didn't dare drink anymore.

This design drawing of his had already been sent back for revisions five times, and the supervisor said every time that there were too many consumables, telling Zhao Danshi to cut them down and compress the cost by another two hundred thousand, which Zhao Danshi stubbornly refused to agree to.

Xiao Li, the planner at the neighboring workstation, raised his head from his busy work to glance at him. "Danshi, you aren't going to get off work and go home quite yet?"

Zhao Danshi gave a wry smile and pointed at the computer. "No such luck, the design draft has been sent back again."

Xiao Li asked with a trace of sympathy, "Still the issue with the consumables?"

Zhao Danshi nodded. On the skin of his fair face, the corners of his eyes were suffused with a thin layer of blushing crimson from staying up late and looking at the computer for a long time, making him look exceptionally exhausted.

Xiao Li pitied him all the more. You were born a fine beauty, why did you have to become a design dog?

Zhao Danshi did not get along well with the supervisor, who had consistently sneered at him, finding Zhao Danshi timid, finding him too picky, since everyone in the industry did it this way, and only he, Zhao Danshi, had wild thoughts.

It was the same today; both sides were locked in a stalemate, and Zhao Danshi had been kept pressed at the office unable to go home.

He had already planned to resign, and no matter what, he couldn't possibly cut the materials down. Reducing them further might pose safety hazards, and in the event of an accident, he as the designer would also be held accountable, and if things went badly he might even have to go to prison.

His monthly salary now, after deducting the five social insurances and one housing fund, barely reached six thousand. This bit of money was not enough to buy the rest of his life.

He irritably rubbed his head, planning to go home once the supervisor got off work. Worst case scenario he would just drag it out; let's see who could outlast whom.

Xiao Li swiftly saved the planning draft. "Then I'm leaving first. You should also go back early and not stay up too late."

Zhao Danshi wryly waved at him. How late he stayed up depended on their supervisor, not on him.

Staying busy until eleven in the evening, the supervisor finally got off work. Zhao Danshi shut down his computer a moment after, grabbed his relevant materials, and went downstairs to ride a shared bicycle home.

Originally he had even wanted to buy an electric scooter, but alas, the amount of exercise he got in a day was already this much; if he didn't move around some more, sooner or later he would turn into a dead couch potato.

The apartment he rented was somewhat far from the company. It was already past twelve when he got back home, and it was close to one by the time he finished washing up and climbed into bed. Just as Zhao Danshi had barely fallen asleep, the phone placed beside his pillow suddenly rang.

The ringtone blared fiercely in the darkness, like a sudden explosive thunderclap on a calm and tranquil afternoon. Zhao Danshi abruptly opened his eyes, sprang up in a carp-like leap, and took a few seconds to react before looking at the phone.

There were only two simple words displayed for the incoming call: Li Ping.

The sensation of heart palpitations in Zhao Danshi was somewhat pronounced. Just because of these two names, all the negative emotions of being woken up in the middle of the night were swept clean!

His eyes shone, and his originally muddled head thoroughly woke up.

Holding the phone, Zhao Danshi fumble-fingeredly swiped the icon on the screen over to the call end. His voice carried the hoarseness of having just been startled awake, and amidst the hoarseness it also carried a trace of softness. "Senior Brother, what's the matter looking for me so late?"

Yet over there was not Li Ping's warm and magnetic voice, as a casual young man's voice came across. "Are you this phone owner's friend?"

"Ah?"

"Your friend got drunk at Sail Bar, the bar right behind the pedestrian street. Is it convenient to come over and pick him up? We're about to close."

Zhao Danshi could no longer care about sleeping. He swept the quilt aside, poked his feet into his slippers while repeatedly answering, "Convenient, convenient. Wait a moment, I'll be right there!"

Sail Bar was somewhat far from the apartment he rented. Zhao Danshi had occasionally gone there during his student days, but after coming out to work he very rarely contacted these kinds of places. He slung his backpack over his body, hung up the phone, opened a ride-hailing app to book a car, and headed straight for Sail Bar.

Recently, there had been a severe crackdown. Bars and other such places had already undergone several rounds of strict crackdowns, and inside and out they were much more proper.

Sail Bar's business had also been affected. At two in the morning, the customers had basically all gone away, leaving only two or three waiters cleaning up. Under the incandescent light it appeared very desolate, completely lacking the atmosphere of a nightspot.

The moment Zhao Danshi stepped through the door, he recognized the back. He seemed to have already gotten drunk, and was quietly slumped over the bar counter.

Zhao Danshi ran over panting. The bartender's eyes lit up, his mouth parting to reveal the voice Zhao Danshi was familiar with. "Hey, you're this buddy's friend right? He drank too much, hurry up and take him back!"

"Has the tab been paid?"

The bartender's favorable impression of Zhao Danshi in his heart grew even stronger, and he grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. "Paid. This buddy just woke up for a moment and swiped a card."

Zhao Danshi nodded at him, his fair face flushing a bit redder, and laboriously propped up Li Ping. "Sorry for the trouble, I'll take him back right now."

Li Ping was half a head taller than Zhao Danshi, and his figure was also much sturdier than his. Zhao Danshi staggered under his weight, nearly falling over.

The bartender hurriedly took a few steps over to help, supporting Li Ping's other arm to help him and Zhao Danshi walk out side by side. "People who are drunk are all relatively heavy. I'll go out with you to help him support him out. Did you drive here?"

"Thank you." Zhao Danshi hurriedly said, "I don't have a car, I called a cab over."

"Then that's going to be a bit touch-and-go. This buddy is drunk this badly, and who knows if the driver will be willing to take him." The bartender looked at Zhao Danshi with some admiration. "Your relationship really is great. When I used to make calls, a lot of people heard they had to come pick up a drunk and were completely unwilling to come."

Zhao Danshi gave a silent, wry smile, changed the subject, and asked, "Why did you call me? Did he tell you to?"

Zhao Danshi had harbored a secret crush on Li Ping for a long time, yet Li Ping was not very familiar with him. Back in school the two of them had still contacted each other relatively often, but after coming out they exchanged blessing text messages at most once a year during festivals and New Year.

The bartender offhandedly said, "Oh, I saw your call log, you ranked right at the very top, so I just casually called it."

Zhao Danshi was struck dumb. He had called Li Ping earlier in the afternoon when he made up his mind to resign, though he didn't know why he had suddenly been possessed by a whim to make that call.

Hearing the other person's warm yet distant-sounding voice, the courage Zhao Danshi had managed to drum up all vanished inside his chest. The draft he had originally prepared completely failed to get spoken, and after a simple exchange of pleasantries he hung up.

Removed from their college days, in the final analysis they were merely alumni who weren't particularly familiar with each other.

The car Zhao Danshi called was outside. Zhao Danshi and the bartender managed with great difficulty to help the man into the vehicle, and the driver looked back.

Zhao Danshi hurriedly said, "My friend isn't too drunk. If he vomits, I'll pay you the car wash fee."

The driver immediately smiled, his hands grasping the steering wheel anew. "Where to?"

Zhao Danshi pulled down the seatbelt to fasten it for Li Ping, waved goodbye to the bartender outside the car, and then stated a hotel address.

He had secretly loved Li Ping for many years, so naturally he knew where his home was, but visiting so late at night wasn't entirely appropriate. Especially since he had drunk himself into this state, Zhao Danshi had to stay behind to take care of him, so as to avoid any accidents like suffocating on vomit.

Checking into the room used Zhao Danshi's ID card, and Li Ping seemed a little more sober, half-leaning against Zhao Danshi as he stood, not speaking the whole time with his eyelashes half-drooped, yet showing no expression of resistance either.

Zhao Danshi half-supported him, laboriously bringing him into the elevator, finding their booked room to open the door with the room card, and then struggling to move him onto the bed, taking off his shoes and socks to settle him in properly.

Li Ping was very handsome, with a masculine kind of handsomeness, low body fat, sharp contours, and a tall build; even drunk like this, it did not detract from his poise.

Zhao Danshi sat by the bed, dazed for a good while, his heart filled with a tangled mix of emotions.

He was about to resign soon, and a friend with a decent relationship had asked him to go to H City, where there was a fairly good position that he was also quite tempted by. It was just that if he went over there, his intersections with the likes of Li Ping would become even fewer, and in the future, there might perhaps be no chance to meet again at all.

Zhao Danshi had never thought of becoming Li Ping's boyfriend, but after all, this was someone he had a crush on for so long; leaving just like this, his heart was unwilling.

After spacing out for a long time, Zhao Danshi came back to his senses and saw Li Ping reaching out to tug at the shirt on his body, with sweat stains on his forehead as well, guessing that he was not very comfortable. Hesitating for a moment, Zhao Danshi did not know whether he should go get a handkerchief, wring it out, and wipe his face for him.

The moment his hip just left the mattress, a sweaty hand grabbed his arm, and that hand carried a blazing temperature, almost burning clean through his arm.

Zhao Danshi instinctively struggled, but that palm gripped tighter, clasping him like an iron hoop with a force that almost made him feel pain. He looked up, yet locked eyes under the light with a pair of pitch-black eyes; those eyes seemed completely lucid, yet seemed entirely unfocused.

The eyes drew closer and closer to him, and Zhao Danshi felt as if his whole person was being sucked in. He instinctively thought, it's over, I don't even have a shred of resistance left in my body, just watching those eyes slowly draw near to himself.

He was single, and Li Ping was single too; it was no big deal.

A scorching breath drew close, bringing a slightly alcohol-laced kiss, and the unique scent of a male rushed toward his face.

Zhao Danshi struggled at the very last moment and asked, Senior brother, I am Zhao Danshi. Do you still remember?

Li Ping's movement paused, and then he continued.

Zhao Danshi did not know whether Li Ping had recognized him or not either. He nervously clutched Li Ping's clothes, thinking to himself that at any rate Li Ping was not too drunk; a person who was too drunk could not harbor lustful intentions.

There were family planning supplies right by the bedside table, and everything followed a logical course of events. He did not know whether he had fallen asleep or passed out, but when he woke up again, it was not yet five o'clock. His whole body hurt everywhere, and his rear was especially strange, feeling as if someone had poked a hole through it.

He opened his eyes, gazing at the ceiling in the darkness. The person beside him was breathing lightly, appearing exceptionally clear in the early morning hours.

Fuck! My male god of many years! I just slept with him like this!

The feeling in Zhao Danshi's heart was simply indescribable. After a good while, he endured the discomfort, climbed up on tiptoes with light steps, and pressed his lips together as he got out of bed to look for his clothes. Yesterday's battle had been too intense, and his clothes were scattered all over the floor; he almost tripped over his own underwear when he got out of bed.

Zhao Danshi dressed with slow and gentle movements, unable to keep himself from letting out a sigh. He did not turn on the light, and under the illumination of the streetlamps, he quietly opened the door with light steps, slipping back stealthily while the sky was still not yet bright.