What you couldn't have in your youth

The rules were simple: whoever the bottle pointed to had to choose truth or dare. Refuse both, and you had to drink three glasses.

Shen Lian glanced at the glasses. They weren't exactly small.

Feng Yueshan had clearly tried everything he could, from controlling the force of his spin and watching the bottle like a hawk to praying to every god available, but the bottle kept narrowly missing Shen Lian and Chu Yilan.

Feng Yueshan snorted and rubbed his hands together again. "I don't believe you two can get lucky every time."

Chu Yilan leaned against the sofa with a quiet chuckle.

At last, someone spun the bottle toward Chu Yilan.

Feng Yueshan nearly jumped up in excitement. "Pick one! Pick one right now!"

"Neither." Chu Yilan could take a loss. "I'll drink the three glasses."

But once the drinks were poured, Shen Lian snatched one away just as he reached for it.

Without saying a word to Chu Yilan, Shen Lian tipped his head back and downed it.

Feng Yueshan blinked twice. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"Drinking for Mr. Chu." As Shen Lian spoke, he lightly tapped his own face as a hint.

Feng Yueshan understood immediately, but... but... lately, Chu Yilan had been either at the office or at home, barely showing up at any gatherings. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought someone had stolen his soul. When he had first been injured, Ning Sixian had talked himself hoarse, and the man still hadn't given up smoking or drinking. Now that he was mostly recovered, how had he become the princess and the pea under Shen Lian's care?

Feng Yueshan couldn't help saying, "It's just an occasional drink."

"No." Shen Lian's answer remained the same. "He can't drink."

Before, Shen Lian hadn't had any say in it. But now he had broken through the doors to Chu Yilan's heart, and they had kissed and held each other. As far as Shen Lian was concerned, Chu Yilan was his man, regardless of their roles in bed.

Feng Yueshan finally understood that "choked up" feeling Ning Sixian had described.

Chu Yilan turned his head slightly. His expression was calm, but a light flickered deep in his eyes as he watched Shen Lian finish all three glasses.

When it was Shen Lian's turn to spin the bottle, he spared no one. Whatever they chose, they got either a difficult dare or a tricky question. Refuse to play, and they had to drink.

After all that fuss, Feng Yueshan had an epiphany: these two were practically geoducks. They wouldn't budge or open their mouths.

Losing interest, he pushed the bottle aside. "Forget it. Let's play cards."

Shen Lian sat immediately after Chu Yilan in the playing order. Chu Yilan didn't look at his cards, but whenever he played, Shen Lian could always follow.

Shen Lian marveled at his good luck. Feng Yueshan nearly let out a derisive laugh. My buddy's practically spoon-feeding you cards.

After several rounds, they had won more than they lost. Whether the drinks were his or Chu Yilan's, Shen Lian didn't try to wriggle out of them. He drank them all.

Then Shen Lian got up to use the restroom. Feng Yueshan immediately slapped his lousy hand down on the table with a smack, his teasing tone edged with irritation. "How does it feel to have someone looking after you like that, Mr. Chu?"

Chu Yilan looked at him. "What, jealous?"

"Ha!" Feng Yueshan genuinely laughed out of sheer exasperation.

Meanwhile, Dai Kangle had settled his dispute with the man. When he returned and tried to approach again, a bodyguard stopped him with a stony expression.

Dai Kangle didn't dare force his way through. He had seen what Chu Yilan was capable of.

How many people who came to places like this to sell drinks and smile for customers could honestly claim to have pure intentions? Catch the eye of one or two rich heirs, and the next few months would be much more comfortable.

It wasn't as though Dai Kangle had never considered entering show business and asking Zheng Ge to introduce him around. But he simply didn't have the talent, or a Zhou Tangsi to back him up. After dipping his toes in for three weeks, he had been put through so much that all the fight had gone out of him.

Dai Kangle still preferred life here.

And naturally, Shen Lian wasn't the only one who would take a fancy to a man like Chu Yilan.

Dai Kangle stared in their direction in a daze. Then he saw Shen Lian return on unsteady feet. Chu Yilan was still talking to Feng Yueshan, yet it was as though he had eyes on the side of his head. He held out a hand, and Shen Lian took it with perfect ease before returning to his seat.

That single gesture was enough to make Dai Kangle's heart jolt.

They played until sometime after ten, when Chu Yilan got up to leave.

Feng Yueshan waved a hand without trying to keep him.

Only after leaving the Morning Star did they realize it had been raining for a long time. The ground was soaked, and pooled water flowed along the channels into the storm drain.

Chu Yilan took off his coat and draped it over Shen Lian's shoulders.

Shen Lian didn't refuse. He genuinely needed it more than Chu Yilan did.

The cool breeze sobered Shen Lian a little, but the drunkenness soon came surging back. The world seemed veiled behind a thin layer, and he grew more childish.

He took Chu Yilan's hand. When the man didn't shake him off, he scratched his palm with his fingertips.

"Stop fidgeting," Chu Yilan said helplessly.

The driver hadn't brought the car around yet. Shen Lian sniffed and was about to speak when he heard an extremely faint cry.

Frowning, he scanned the ground ahead. The light was dim, but he could just make out a little dark lump being washed toward the drain cover.

The driver parked at the foot of the steps, then hurried over with an umbrella.

Shen Lian took it without a word, walked down the steps, and went over to the drain cover. A closer look confirmed it was a cat. He bent down and gently nudged it with his fingertips, revealing an umbilical cord. The kitten was still alive, but after another three minutes in that rushing water, it might not be.

Looking at that tiny bundle, Shen Lian suddenly found his thoughts pulled far into the past.

When he had first entered the industry, he had lived in low-rent housing that cost only a few hundred a month and eaten instant noodles five days a week just to save money. When he felt lonely, he hadn't wanted a person for company, only a living creature to raise. But he couldn't afford it, and he couldn't make an animal suffer alongside him. Later, when his finances improved, he was constantly rushing from place to place. The plan remained on hold until he forgot it entirely, and having a pet no longer seemed to matter.

But now, that old impulse surged vividly back into his heart.

Shen Lian raised his head to look at Chu Yilan.

Chu Yilan hadn't drunk anything. Even from several yards away, he knew what was lying on the ground.

"No," Chu Yilan refused outright.

The next second, Shen Lian silently moved the umbrella aside, letting the rain fall on him.

Chu Yilan snapped, "What are you doing? Trying to threaten me?"

"No." Shen Lian sounded a little forlorn. "I just think that what you couldn't have in your youth will haunt you for the rest of your life."

Against their surroundings, it carried an indescribable air of desolation.

Chu Yilan: "..."

It's an act! Chu Yilan thought. No one's better at playing pitiful than him.

But his feet refused to listen.

Chu Yilan strode over, straightened Shen Lian's umbrella, and drew the coat more snugly around him. Finally, he looked down at the little creature crying weakly on the ground.

Remembering how Shen Lian had been shielding it from the rain all this time, Chu Yilan clicked his tongue softly and had the driver pick it up after all.

Chu Yilan had little sympathy. The world he knew had always been one where the strong preyed on the weak. Keeping a cat or a dog had never crossed his mind.

The driver wiped the kitten clean. When Shen Lian took it, every movement was careful.

"Chu Yilan, it's so tiny."

"Mm." Chu Yilan glanced at it. "Probably only a day or two old."

"Should we take it to a veterinary hospital?"

"It's too young. Even if something's wrong, they can't give it medicine or operate. Take it home. Aunt Fen's very good at raising these things. If it survives tonight, we'll keep it."

"Did you hear that?" Shen Lian gently poked the kitten's head. "Stay alive."