Not after a rightful place by his side

Zuo Tingyue, Jiang Yulin, and the others had been held up in Macau City for over half a month. Problems had arisen with the Guangdong-Hong Kong Bay project, but in the end, any problem money could solve was no problem at all.

If ordinary materials would not work, they switched to ones that would. If the budget was insufficient, they raised it. They had money to spare.

"Finally, it's over."

Jiang Yulin said this with relief as he sat on the flight back to Harbor City.

"This past half month really was grueling."

"Even the Lin Family in Macau City stepped in this time."

Lou Jing was on the plane too, chatting with him.

"Yeah. The Lin Family has always stood unmoved by winds from all directions, yet this time they actually entered the fray."

"It concerns people's livelihoods, after all. The Lin Family is an old-established family. They have some sense of the bigger picture. Helping this project also helps them."

"..."

It was late at night when the plane touched down at Harbor City's airport.

After so many days in Macau City, Jiang Yulin was like a wild horse slipping its reins the moment he returned. Eager to find people to go out with, he called Xun Yuan and Yun Tang, asking where they were and whether they wanted to come out.

"Xunxun and I are soaking in the hot springs at the hot spring resort."

That was what Yun Tang told him over the phone.

Jiang Yulin hung up and told the others directly, "I'm going to the hot spring resort. Do whatever you like."

"I'll come too." Lou Jing followed him.

Zuo Tingyue said nothing. He got into the waiting Bentley with Special Assistant Lin, bound for who knew where.

Late at night, at the hot spring resort.

Some big shot from Harbor City had arrived tonight and insisted on throwing a grand bonfire banquet in the middle of the night.

A ring of colorful lanterns surrounded the clearing in the garden. There were even flowers flown in by air, their petals bearing crystal-clear dewdrops, lovely and fragrant.

Matching sets of handwoven bamboo tables and chairs stood along the pebble path. Apparently, they had been acquired at great expense from an inheritor of an intangible cultural heritage craft.

"Why did you all go to Macau City together this time?"

"What's so appealing there? What does it have that Harbor City doesn't?"

Yun Tang asked as she fiddled with the food for the barbecue, pondering what to eat first. It was all their fault for bringing so many ingredients that the choices made her eyes swim.

Jiang Yulin actually gave it some serious thought before finally shaking his head. "Does money count?"

"Money? Young Master Jiang of Harbor City is short of money?" Yun Tang shot him a sidelong glance, clearly unconvinced.

Jiang Yulin replied casually, "I'm not short of money, but losing money won't do. Even taking another step back, losing money is one thing. Losing face is another."

That was true. At their level, they viewed many things from a different angle. Money was a minor matter. With family fortunes passed down through generations, they had seen so much of it that it was merely numbers. Face mattered more.

The charcoal gradually glowed red, heat spilling out, its rising warmth keeping the chill in this little space from seeping quite so deeply into their bones.

Xun Yuan nudged the charcoal with a pair of tongs. The night breeze brushed past, flames flared, and scarlet bloomed. She set a rack over it to make grilling easier.

"Xunxun, let me."

Jiang Yulin took the food from Xun Yuan's hands and held it over the grill.

Xun Yuan watched him turn the food a couple of times. Her brows lifted slightly as she asked with a smile, "You know how to do this?"

Second- and third-generation heirs had their meals brought to the table, with chefs personally asking what they wanted to eat. All they needed to do was move their hands and put the food into their mouths.

"Looking down on me, are you?"

Jiang Yulin's voice rose, seemingly displeased.

"This is his one trick. Why else would he insist on a barbecue and bonfire?"

Beside him, Lou Jing could not stand the sight of him with his tail sticking up and deliberately undercut him.

"Lou Jing, even food can't shut your mouth."

"When you fell for a girl in your teens, she didn't want to date before finishing school, but you insisted on pursuing her no matter what. Did I ever say anything about you?"

Lou Jing cursed at him. "You fucking bastard."

Xun Yuan and Yun Tang laughed merrily, reveling in his misfortune as they listened to tales of their youthful high spirits and romantic escapades.

"And then?"

Yun Tang asked, watching the fun without caring how much bigger the fuss became.

"And then? The girl had her heart set on reading the books of sages. She said no."

Jiang Yulin concealed nothing for him, spilling it all in one go.

Lou Jing fell silent. It had happened so many years ago, and only that once. As though possessed, after more than a decade of smooth sailing, he had just had to fall for a well-behaved model student-and come crashing down.

He shook his head, took the newly opened bottle, and poured himself a glass.

"Xunxun, want a glass?"

Jiang Yulin poured champagne into a glass. The liquid, glowing ginkgo yellow, swayed inside, eagerly inviting a taste.

Xun Yuan reached out and took a glass of champagne from him. The glowing bonfire was reflected through the pale liquid. She tilted her hand, and the firelight swayed with her movement, fierce and scorching.

The taste of alcohol spread through their mouths and around their noses. Bottle after bottle was opened, and the aroma of wine filled the space. At gatherings, alcohol made it exceedingly easy to liven up the mood.

The grilled food was brought to the table, though more of it had been prepared and served by the chefs, exquisitely plated and brimming with color, aroma, and flavor.

Xun Yuan was not particularly hungry and only moved her chopsticks now and then. When someone asked her something, she answered, making no deliberate effort either to speak or to hold anything back.

The clock ticked on into the small hours. The group looked ready to stay up all night, but Xun Yuan had no intention of keeping them company. Seeing that it was about time, she planned to slip away quietly.

Jiang Yulin was thoroughly tipsy. Yun Tang had drunk quite a bit too and was slumped crookedly against the back of her chair, looking only half awake.

"Xunxun, tell me, why did you fall for Tingyue?"

Jiang Yulin asked in his drunken rambling. He had no other intentions; he was simply curious.

Xun Yuan had drunk two glasses of champagne and was not drunk in the slightest, though they had left her more relaxed. She replied languidly, "He's handsome."

Jiang Yulin was at a loss for words. Tingyue was indeed handsome, the kind of handsome without an equal in all of Harbor City, but that answer was still far too perfunctory.

"Shallow."

Xun Yuan raised her brows. "Nothing wrong with being a little shallow."

"What do you want from him? Surely it can't just be his face."

Unwilling to give up, Jiang Yulin tried to coax an answer out of Xun Yuan.

Xun Yuan did not take the bait. Idly swirling her glass, she answered leisurely, "If not his face, what else would I want?"

"True. Nothing shameful about being bewitched by beauty."

Jiang Yulin nodded, seemingly accepting that explanation.

After a pause, as though something had occurred to her, Xun Yuan calmly added, "Actually, that's not quite right. I'm also after his fit body."

Lou Jing could not hold back a laugh beside them.

With the alcohol going to his head, Jiang Yulin suddenly overstepped and asked, "You don't want a rightful place by his side at all?"

The instant his drunken voice fell, a man in a suit and leather shoes walked slowly into the garden entrance. His black suit fitted the sharp, flowing lines of his shoulders perfectly. Beneath his straight-cut trousers, his long legs were strong and powerful. His leather shoes pressed over the pebble path, his bearing composed and unhurriedly aristocratic.

Jiang Yulin's words reached his ears on the cool late-night breeze. His steps faltered slightly, and he stopped where he stood.

He took out a cigarette case and slowly lit a cigarette. The strike of the flint-wheel lighter sounded low yet loud in the night. Scarlet flashed, and smoke drifted out, hazy and elusive, impossible to touch, impossible to grasp.