After weathering every storm, may the rest of your life be smooth sailing

The entire gathering fell silent.

Qiao Xin's expression instantly stiffened. She looked at Yu Nan. "Why?"

Yu Nan scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"When I first debuted, things didn't go very smoothly. A lot of things piled up back then, and I wasn't good at coping psychologically. I didn't even know when I became depressed. It was hard to control my emotions."

With the livestream cameras on him, Yu Nan didn't say much more. He stopped there, then let out a sigh and said lightly:

"But looking back, it was a fresh start, too. After that, I rode out every storm, and everything went smoothly. Now I couldn't be healthier or happier."

Yu Nan had been young when he debuted, and his family had been poor. His father had died early, and his mother had been ill at the time. Desperate for money, Yu Nan had been sweet-talked into signing with a lousy company.

At first, his talent had been appreciated, and he had received a few opportunities. But then his luck had turned rotten: a higher-up had taken a fancy to him. Yu Nan had refused to trade sexual favors for advancement, and after a brief moment in the spotlight, he had been suppressed until he disappeared from public view.

Not only that, but the company had also given some of his original demos to others who were more willing to play along.

He had tried to fight back, but he was trapped by the contract he had signed. He couldn't afford the penalty for breaking it, nor did he have the money or ability to take on the industry's powerful interests in court.

Yu Nan had struggled all that time, until his mother's death four years earlier became the final straw.

Yu Nan spoke of it lightly now. The viewers watching for entertainment might not have grasped much from it, but as industry insiders, everyone present could imagine how desperate he must have been back then, with no one to turn to.

Qiao Xin quietly swore, reached over to ruffle Yu Nan's hair, and raised her glass.

"To our young Yu Nan. After weathering every storm, may the rest of your life be smooth sailing."

With that round over, Jiang Lan was currently in the lead, with five fingers still raised.

Qiao Xin, Xu Can, and Tan Duoduo had four fingers left.

Pei Du, Lin Ziyou, Yu Nan, and Ye Qiunian had three.

Everyone raised their glasses, drinking to Yu Nan leaving his past suffering behind.

Only Jiang Lan, when he instinctively turned to look at Wen Zhiyan, saw him finish the orange juice in his glass. After Wen Zhiyan set the clear glass down, Jiang Lan noticed that the four fingers he had left had not moved.

They remained exactly as they had been.

Jiang Lan abruptly lifted his head, trying to meet Wen Zhiyan's eyes.

But Wen Zhiyan avoided his gaze, merely watching the laughter around him calmly, as though he existed among them yet remained apart from the world.

He was entirely out of place amid the merriment before him.

Jiang Lan felt as though an invisible boulder were pressing firmly against his chest, leaving him unable to breathe.

He wanted to speak, but though he opened his mouth several times, he couldn't find his voice.

An intense, aching sting surged from his heart to his nose. Jiang Lan looked away and gulped down a large mouthful of liquor, using its fiery burn in his throat to suppress the urge to immediately press Wen Zhiyan for answers.

No one noticed the undercurrents between Jiang Lan and Wen Zhiyan.

But while Wen Zhiyan's unmoving hand might have escaped the others present, it could not escape the countless sharp eyes watching through the cameras.

[????]

[Did anyone notice something wrong?]

[What did I just see? Shouldn't President Wen only have three fingers left?]

[Let me count...]

[Holy shit, even someone like President Wen has had times when he didn't want to live?]

[Why hasn't anyone noticed President Wen didn't move? Can't someone ask him?]

[He's so quiet. I feel like he's about to shatter. I'm going to cry.]

[Lan-ge saw it, right? Lan-ge saw it, didn't he?]

[Don't know. The camera wasn't close enough just now. I couldn't see Lan-ge's face, only that he was drinking.]

[Why do you think someone with Wen Zhiyan's circumstances would come on this show?]

[Could it have something to do with his family? No matter how I look at it, Wen Zhiyan has no reason to attempt suicide. But if it involves wealthy-family secrets, who knows.]

[At a time like this, I really can't bring myself to think about conspiracy theories...]

A new round began. Jiang Lan remained leaning back in his chair while Pei Du spun the dial again. The pointer landed on Lin Ziyou, so they started with him.

What Yu Nan had said had been rather too heavy.

Lin Ziyou switched to a lighter topic, smiling as he said, "I've never been drunk."

After spending long enough in this industry, who didn't know how to drink?

Favors, business engagements, networking-drinking was an unavoidable part of it all.

Anyone who dared claim they had never been drunk either had such powerful backing that they had no need to drink, or possessed a natural gift and could drink endlessly without getting drunk.

Tan Duoduo exclaimed, "Ziyou, you can hold your liquor that well?"

Lin Ziyou curved his lips and winked. "It's hereditary, I suppose. Besides, I'm pretty crafty. I know how to cheat."

Everyone except Lin Ziyou lost that round.

Pei Du looked at Ye Qiunian. "You've been drunk too?"

Ye Qiunian nodded. "Is that so strange? I don't have many social engagements, though. I'm just a lightweight. I can drink too much all by myself."

Amused, Pei Du looked at the large bottle of liquor in front of him. "Then you'd better take it easy."

Wen Zhiyan had not spoken again since the previous round ended.

Only Xu Can looked at Jiang Lan and said with a smile:

"Lan-ge, if I remember right, you're famous in the industry for drinking everyone under the table. Director Zhang even mentioned you on another production before. He said you drank everyone under the table at your wrap party, then just walked off without bothering with any of them."

With something weighing on his mind, Jiang Lan felt thoroughly stifled, but he still had to keep up the act. He chuckled.

"That's unfair. I'll have to explain myself to Director Zhang. Obviously, I'd already had too much, but I was too proud for my own good and insisted on showing off, so I left by myself. If I'd had any sense left, how could I possibly have abandoned him?"

Watching Jiang Lan chat and laugh with the others without betraying a thing, Wen Zhiyan curled his fingertips, unable to help recalling how little liquor Jiang Lan had once been able to handle.

Whenever he had a couple of drinks too many, he would turn clingy, whining that his head hurt, demanding to hug him and kiss him, and even overestimating himself enough to try to bite him.

Now, after all these years apart, he had somehow earned a reputation for never getting drunk.

He tilted his head up to look at the moon in the night sky beyond the canopy, thinking, So seven years really was that long.

Long enough that, no matter how closely he followed Jiang Lan, there were always things he didn't know, happening where he couldn't see.

He watched Xu Can smile, but couldn't hear what Xu Can was saying to Jiang Lan.

Only when the game began again did Wen Zhiyan come back to himself.