Lai Jiangtian: Have I been so tired lately that I'm hallucinating? I feel like my head isn't quite clear.
Yin Xian: If you mean that bizarre message, I got it too.
Yin Xian: I was so shocked I didn't dare say anything. I thought it might be a pyramid scheme.
Yin Xian: But if you mean you're exhausted, there's no chance of that.
Yin Xian: Stop acting like your life is full of suffering.
Lai Jiangtian: ...What do you mean by that? That's really out of line, you know.
Yin Xian: Hehe~
Lai Jiangtian: Seriously, is this actually real? It's unbelievable.
Lai Jiangtian: How are you all so calm????? Isn't this shocking? This is genuinely terrifying, okay!!?!
Song Jing'an: It is terrifying. I thought he'd stay single forever. Marriage was something that could never happen to him.
Lai Jiangtian: Right, right!!!! I think someone's possessed old Yan!
Yin Xian: Operation save old Yan.
Lai Jiangtian: Huh... wait...
Lai Jiangtian: I know Xia Shule. I know who he is!! At Uncle Yan's birthday banquet, that kid was gorgeous! Someone spilled wine all over him, too!
Lai Jiangtian: I saw the two of them talking! I even asked who he was.
Lai Jiangtian: Old Yan (coldly): The Xia Family's young master.
Lai Jiangtian: So they were already hooking up back then?
Song Jing'an: I think it's probably a marriage of convenience to make Uncle Yan happy.
Song Jing'an: They're probably not actually getting married because they have feelings for each other.
Yin Xian: Oh!! That makes sense. That's the most reasonable explanation.
Lu Mingwen: ...
Lu Mingwen: Am I destined to be at odds with you for the rest of my life, Yan Zhiyi?
Song Jing'an: ?
Yin Xian: ?
Lai Jiangtian: ? What do you mean?
Lu Mingwen sat in the office at his family's company, covering his face. Of everyone in the group, he was probably the one who found this hardest to believe.
Xia Shule...
That adorable student of his...
Was actually going to marry old Yan.
For all these years, no matter how his family urged him to come home and take over the family business, he had never given in. Not until that adorable student, who was a little dim but so good at cheering people up, graduated and returned home.
Only then had he followed him back to China.
He had been busy taking over the company, thinking he would go find him once everything settled down. Instead, the first news he received was that Xia Shule was getting married.
He had been so close. They had already built such a deep bond.
...Again. It was happening again.
Lu Mingwen genuinely began to wonder whether heaven had destined him to be at odds with Yan Zhiyi.
Lai Jiangtian: Forget about him for now. Do you guys have any idea how good-looking that kid is?
Lai Jiangtian: I think he'd look pretty good standing next to old Yan. He's so delicate-looking. When the wine spilled on him that day, all I could think was what a beautiful sight he made, even when he was angry!
Lai Jiangtian: @Y, can you bring him to meet us before the wedding? I quite like him.
Yin Xian: Seconded. I want to see what someone has to look like to get old Yan to marry him.
Song Jing'an: I'll ask for time off, then.
Lu Mingwen: ...I should be under the car.
Yan Zhiyi was about to take Xia Shule out to eat. The little guy had been tired out all day without much rest, so he wanted to get him something he liked.
Xia Shule's tastes were simple: he liked strong flavors. It wasn't that he liked every strange flavor out there. He liked spicy food.
"They want to meet you. Would you like to meet them?"
As he spoke, Yan Zhiyi handed over his phone, openly placing it before him without hiding a thing.
Xia Shule looked up, took the phone, and began reading. There was so much information on this one screen that he didn't know what to ask about first.
His face lit up with delight. "Lu Mingwen!? Your friend is Lu Mingwen? Wow, it really is a small world."
Yan Zhiyi glanced over, then went on driving. "What, you know him?"
Xia Shule was excited. "He taught my major at university! I gave him a headache every time he saw me. Whenever I failed an exam, I even had to cheer him up!"
Once he started talking about his student days, especially about someone they both knew, Xia Shule found it hard to stop. "When I first met him, I thought he'd be really hard to get along with. He always had such a serious face. Still, he was much better than you."
"I was the only Chinese student in our class, so I was a little closer to him. At first, he even praised me for being smart, but that was before we had any exams. Once the exams started, he sighed every day and said he'd misjudged me."
"In the end, he taught me bit by bit, and that's how I managed to graduate."
The more Yan Zhiyi listened to Xia Shule, the more something seemed off. Although Lu Mingwen appeared even-tempered and easy to get along with, he actually had no patience whatsoever.
If the kid really struggled that much with his studies, Lu Mingwen should, by all rights, have avoided him like the plague.
Yet he had patiently taught him?
"Was he easy to get along with?" Yan Zhiyi asked.
Xia Shule grinned, his face full of innocence. "Yeah! I thought he'd leave me alone because I was too dumb, but he said that since I was the only Chinese student, he ought to look after me more. So he patiently taught me, and he even brought me breakfast for a while and gave me special permission to eat in his office!"
After hearing that, Yan Zhiyi sighed. Now he understood why Lu Mingwen had sent that message about being at odds with him for the rest of his life.
The silly kid still didn't know why. Lu Mingwen would never be so nice to someone for no reason.
Xia Shule continued, "This Song... Jing'an, how did he guess you were only getting married to appease your family? Couldn't we be marrying for love?"
Thinking that he should keep his guard up around Lu Mingwen from now on, Yan Zhiyi replied, "Maybe because he's a police officer."
"Oh! No wonder. They thought you'd somehow found true love, hehe."
Yan Zhiyi glanced over again, looking at his kitten-like profile. "So, do you want to meet them? If you do, we'll have them go to the Garden Estate. If not, it'll just be the two of us."
"Yes!" Xia Shule was bursting with enthusiasm. "He said I was good-looking! I like him!"
Yan Zhiyi chuckled. So adorable. "Then reply to them for me."
"Will do!"
Y: See you at the Garden Estate.
As though seeking praise, Xia Shule held the phone up beside Yan Zhiyi. "Look, I copied you pretty well, right? Doesn't that sound just like you?"
"It does. Aren't you impressive?"
"Of course!"
The people on the other end seemed to have been watching their screens, waiting to reply. The instant Xia Shule sent the message, a whole string of replies came in with a flurry of pings.
Lai Jiangtian: That's exactly what I've been waiting for. I'm already sitting in my car. Let's go!!!! Vroom, vroom, vroom!!!! Turbocharged!
Yin Xian: ? Are you okay? Come see me when you have time.
Yin Xian: Good thing I'm already on the road.
Lai Jiangtian: ?
Lai Jiangtian: You should get yourself checked out when you have time, too.
Song Jing'an: I asked for time off and got chewed out by my colleague, but I made it out.
Yu Song sat in the office with a world-weary expression, writing Song Jing'an's name on a piece of paper. He threw it onto the floor and stomped on it several times, but even that wasn't enough.
Lu Mingwen: I'll join in too.
Lu Mingwen: Just you wait.