"Drinking alone?" Shen Lian's smile was downright unnerving. He picked up Chu Yilan's glass and sniffed it. "Hmm, pretty strong. Come on, tell me what's going on. I'll drink with you."
Chu Yilan shook his head. "I'm done drinking."
Shen Lian said, "I want a drink."
"You can't drink." Even dead drunk, Chu Yilan remembered that Shen Lian's health made alcohol off-limits. He stood, looking almost docile for a moment. "Let's go home."
"What for?"
"Let's go home. I'll tell you everything."
Now Shen Lian was certain something really had happened, and the last of his anger faded.
Quite a few people looked over, but neither of them cared. Shen Lian took off his coat and draped it over Chu Yilan's shoulders, turned to say a few words to Sun Binghe and the others, then helped Chu Yilan out through the back.
Nie Sheng and several bodyguards followed at a discreet distance.
Chu Yilan was unsteady on his feet. He didn't want to lean his weight on Shen Lian, but he couldn't help it.
Chu Yilan couldn't spare a thought for Chu Changqi anymore. His gaze was visibly unfocused, yet he kept cautiously studying Shen Lian's expression.
Shen Lian didn't so much as glance at him, but asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Trying to tell whether you're angry."
Shen Lian pressed down the corners of his mouth. Inside, he was screaming about how cute Chu Yilan was, but his voice stayed cool. "Shouldn't I be angry? Never mind how you used to disregard your health. Now that I'm here, you still dare? When their messages came in, I hadn't even finished filming. I had to run over and ask Director Zhao for time off. Master Chu, that has happened very, very rarely in my entire career."
Chu Yilan asked,