By ten that night, City A's nightlife was already in full swing.
At an upscale, members-only entertainment club, guests came and went, and every car parked outside was an expensive luxury model.
The spacious private room was dimly lit, with the noisy chatter and laughter outside shut out by the door.
There were roughly twenty young people inside. Some were singing, some chatting, and others drinking and playing games.
Jiang Xun sat in an armchair near the corner, propping up his head as he ate peanuts out of sheer boredom.
It was the birthday of some rich kid from the class next door. He barely knew the guy.
But once, the rich kid had gone to the bathroom without bringing any toilet paper. Jiang Xun happened to be there too, so he had kindly given him a packet of tissues.
The rich kid had been immensely grateful, insisting that they now shared a comrades-in-arms bond, a friendship forged in life and death, and that Jiang Xun had to attend his birthday party.
Jiang Xun hadn't had any chance to resist. He had been hauled over like a little chick.
At that moment, the guy was belting out karaoke in his cracked, grating voice.
Jiang Xun's mouth twitched, at a loss for words. He reached up to touch his right ear, seriously worried that his only good ear would be ruined too.
"Brother Tian, you sound amazing! Like an angel!"
"One more song! One more!"
"Easy, easy." The praise went straight to Jiang Tian's head. He gave the pretty girl opposite him a crooked, devilish smile, and she shyly lowered her face.
Jiang Xun popped a peanut into his mouth and mentally scoffed. The mighty king of crooked smiles.
Jiang Tian tossed the microphone to one of his lackeys, picked up the beer on the table, and tilted his head back for a long gulp. Then he wiped his mouth and walked over to Jiang Xun.
"Why aren't you joining everyone?" Jiang Tian plopped down on the armrest and draped an arm over Jiang Xun's shoulders, raising an eyebrow. "Well? Great singing, right?"
Jiang Xun crunched the peanut in his mouth and offered a deadpan assessment. "A rasping, grating din, unbearable to hear."
Jiang Tian burst out laughing and clapped Jiang Xun on the shoulder, then affectionately ruffled his hair. "Little Potato, you're hilarious."
The guy was six foot three and packed with muscle.
Jiang Xun's face turned green, and he nearly coughed up the peanut in his mouth. Those few slaps had practically knocked his little frame apart.
Besides, who wanted to be called Little Potato?!
He discreetly pushed Jiang Tian's hand away and quietly stood up. "Happy birthday, Brother Jiang. Have fun. Something urgent's come up, so I'll head home first."
Before Jiang Xun could take a step, Jiang Tian stood up too and threw an arm around his shoulders. "What's the rush? You've barely been here."
Jiang Xun was furious but didn't dare say so, afraid the guy might get upset and squash him to death by sitting on him.
"Brother Jiang, I really have something urgent to do," he said in a muffled voice.
"All right. I won't make things difficult for you." Jiang Tian picked up a bottle and poured two glasses of beer, handing one to Jiang Xun. "How about this? Have a drink with me, and I'll let you go."
"We've been through life and death together. You're not going to turn me down over something this small, are you, Little Potato?"
Since when did handing someone toilet paper count as going through life and death together?
A vein in Jiang Xun's temple twitched. Resigned, he took the brimming glass of beer and clinked it against Jiang Tian's.
Then he tipped his head back and drained it.
"That's the spirit!" Jiang Tian laughed, downed his own glass, and patted Jiang Xun's shoulder again. "Off you go, Little Potato."
Jiang Xun nearly suffered internal injuries from the slap.
Not daring to waste another second, he pocketed a handful of peanuts and fled the room.
This body had a terrible tolerance for alcohol. One drink could practically knock him out, a fact Jiang Xun had learned through deeply painful experience.
He needed to get home before the alcohol hit.
Jiang Xun took the elevator down to the ground-floor lobby and went to the club entrance, about to take out his phone and book a ride.
Suddenly, his gaze happened to sweep across the street. His pupils trembled slightly, and he froze.
Directly opposite the club, just across the road, stood a five-star hotel decorated in understated luxury.
A couple was walking out of the hotel lobby, hand in hand.
The woman was tall, wearing a long dress, with long hair in loose, sweeping waves. Her looks and bearing were striking.
This body had excellent eyesight, and they weren't far away. Jiang Xun recognized her at a glance.
Ye Jing. Fu Yanli's wife, Chu Xingye's aunt by marriage.
But the man walking beside Ye Jing wasn't Fu Yanli.
Jiang Xun plucked a peanut from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and took a closer look.
It was a young man slightly taller than Ye Jing, wearing blue jeans and a black leather jacket. His hair was neither long nor short, and his handsome face had a somewhat delicate quality.
Naturally, neither his height nor his face or build could compare to Fu Yanli's.
The two walked out of the hotel hand in hand, talking and laughing. Ye Jing tilted her head and briefly leaned against the man's shoulder.
The man stroked Ye Jing's hair, then lowered his head and kissed her on the lips.
!!!
Jiang Xun stared, dumbstruck, his eyes wide and brimming with disbelief. The peanut even fell out of his mouth.
Holy crap! This was huge!
He hurriedly ducked behind a large pillar nearby, took out his phone with trembling hands, and opened the camera. Peeking out with barely half his head, he snapped several photos of them in a row, then immediately hid behind the pillar again.
Before long, Ye Jing and the young man had walked away.
Only then did Jiang Xun emerge from behind the pillar. Clutching his phone, he stared blankly at the hotel across the street for a long time before coming to his senses.
He scrutinized the photos on his screen over and over, zooming in to confirm.
There was no mistake. It was Ye Jing. Her appearance, bearing, and hairstyle were exactly as he remembered.
The alcohol hadn't hit yet. His mind was still clear.
Leaning against the pillar behind him, Jiang Xun unconsciously bit the knuckle of his index finger, his expression strange and indescribable.
From what he had just seen-the hand-holding, the hair-stroking, the kissing-they had all the lovey-dovey air of a couple. And they had come out of a hotel.
Jiang Xun was absolutely certain of one fact: Ye Jing had taken a male lover behind her husband's back.
Unbelievable. Fu Yanli was being cheated on? Fu Yanli was actually being cheated on!
Fu Yanli had so much going for him. His physique, looks, family background, and ability were all outstanding. There wasn't another person in all of City A who could measure up to him.
Of course, Ye Jing was exceptional too, and Jiang Xun had a very good impression of her. She didn't seem remotely like someone who would cheat and take a lover.
Their marriage hadn't seemed to be falling apart, either. Hadn't Ye Jing visited Fu Yanli at his company last time, even sweetly calling him "honey"? Jiang Xun had been right there.
But it had happened. He had seen it with his own eyes.
It was baffling.
Jiang Xun felt as though he had uncovered an earth-shattering secret.
Oh no. Chu Xingye, their number-one shipper, was about to have his whole world come crashing down.
Jiang Xun reached up and scratched his head. Wait, why... why?
Before he could figure anything out, a faint flush gradually spread across his cheeks, ears, and neck.
His head grew fuzzy, and his gaze became unfocused.
The glass of beer he had drunk earlier was starting to hit.
It was past ten that night when Fu Yanli finally finished his work for the day and returned to the apartment from his company.
With his hair sticking up messily, Chu Xingye shuffled into the kitchen in slippers to get some water, greeting him in passing. "Uncle, you're back."
"Mm."
Chu Xingye glanced around, frowned, and muttered under his breath, "Why isn't that shorty back yet...?"
Fu Yanli had been about to return to his bedroom, but his steps paused at those words.
He looked at his nephew and asked, seemingly casually, "Jiang Xun isn't back yet?"
"Nope." Chu Xingye took a sip of water, then continued, "He said he was celebrating a classmate's birthday. He sent me his location, too."
He hadn't wanted to know where that pest was going. Why report it to him? So annoying.
Fu Yanli said nothing. He reached up to loosen his neatly knotted tie a little, then continued toward his room.
Meanwhile.
Jiang Xun groggily slid down into a crouch against the pillar, his mind a jumble.
He patted his burning cheeks, only for his phone to suddenly light up with an incoming voice call.
Jiang Xun looked closely, and his heart trembled. Then he took two deep breaths and answered with a shaking hand.
"'Lo?"
"Why aren't you saying anything? That's weird."
"Uncle?"
Jiang Xun lowered his phone and checked the screen. The call was still connected.
Oh... I had the phone against my left ear. No wonder I couldn't hear anything.
After a sluggish moment, Jiang Xun raised the phone to his right ear and tentatively asked, "Uncle, are you still there?"
"Mm." Fu Yanli stood before the large floor-to-ceiling windows in his room, overlooking the bustling city beneath the night sky. His thin lips moved. "Have you been drinking?"
"Huh? How did you know?" Jiang Xun asked.
Fu Yanli only said, "Where are you? I'll come get you."
Still crouching, Jiang Xun rested his chin on his knees, his brows faintly drawn as though he was torn. At last, he replied in a muffled voice, "No need. I'll get a cab home myself..."
He held his left index finger against his mouth and unconsciously parted his lips to bite the bent knuckle, leaving faint teeth marks.
Only one sentence kept repeating in Jiang Xun's mind: Fu Yanli was being cheated on. Fu Yanli was being cheated on...
But Fu Yanli's deep, resonant voice came through by his ear. "Stay there. I'm coming now."
Even through the phone, it felt as though the man were speaking right beside his ear.
"Is that all right, Jiang Xun?" Though he had clearly made up his mind, Fu Yanli still asked the younger man's opinion, his tone patient and gentle.
Dizzy and dazed, Jiang Xun gave a drawn-out "oh," as if bewitched, his reply coming a beat too slowly. "All right."
After hanging up, he buried his face in his knees and scratched his hair again.
What had happened? Why did it feel like a dream?
Fu Yanli had only been in his room for a short while before he came back out.
Chu Xingye was still standing in the open-plan kitchen, absently scrolling through his phone.
"Xingye, send me Jiang Xun's location."
"Huh?"
Fu Yanli repeated himself.
Chu Xingye wanted to ask why, but he had already opened WeChat and forwarded Jiang Xun's location to his uncle.
"Uncle, why do you need Jiang Xun's location...?"
Before he could finish asking, Fu Yanli was already gone.