After sitting down, Lin Fengyi ordered juice for Lin Fengzhi first. "My little brother's still young. Keep yourselves in check tonight."
Chu Ziyu had invited a few celebrities and models to drink with them. They would arrive shortly.
Lin Fengzhi immediately protested, "I became an adult last month!"
He absolutely hated it when they treated him like a child.
Lin Fengyi stroked his head affectionately. "Got it, big kid."
Chu Ziyu grabbed a handful of pine nuts. "Don't ruin my good name in front of the kid. I'm a respectable man."
Lin Fengzhi looked at Chu Ziyu curiously. Lu Muchi had told him that Chu Ziyu and Xie Yunjie were Lu Lin's close friends. The three had grown up together.
They were so funny when they talked.
Xie Yunjie kicked at Chu Ziyu. "You're already a thirty-year-old man. Aren't you embarrassed to call yourself his big brother?"
Chu Ziyu dodged him with a grin. "A man's in full bloom at thirty. The older he gets, the more charming he becomes."
Xie Yunjie pretended to throw up. Just then, the bartender arrived.
"Mr. Xie." The bartender knew them well and went straight to preparing his equipment. "What would you like to drink today?"
Xie Yunjie looked at Lin Fengzhi. "Little Fengzhi, want to try some? Your Uncle Lu loves Little Zhao's cocktails. He's Oxygen's top bartender."
Little Zhao was the bartender. He said modestly, "I'm not good enough for that. The new bartender's the really impressive one. Several managers couldn't stop praising the Negroni he made at his interview."
Lin Fengzhi blinked. "Uncle Lu Lin?"
Xie Yunjie knew he had guessed right. This kid really liked Lu Lin.
He smiled. "That's right."
Lin Fengzhi nodded at once. "I want some!"
Xie Yunjie tipped his chin toward Little Zhao. "Make him a Negroni."
He also asked, "A new bartender?"
Little Zhao nodded. "Tomorrow's his first day."
Xie Yunjie grew a little interested. "Then we'll have to come show our support."
When Lin Fengyi finished talking to Shen Xiong, he turned and saw Lin Fengzhi holding a drink. The private room wasn't very brightly lit, so he assumed it was juice and paid it no mind.
It was Lin Fengzhi's first time drinking alcohol. Curious, he took a few sips first. It tasted slightly tart at first, then gradually sweet, with a hint of orange. He couldn't quite call it delicious, but it was strangely compelling. Lin Fengzhi downed the rest in one gulp.
By the time Lu Muchi received the message and hurried over, Lin Fengzhi was already drunk. He lay quietly on the sofa, utterly out of place in the private room's scene of decadent indulgence.
Lu Muchi clenched his teeth so hard they nearly shattered. Without even acknowledging Xie Yunjie and the others, he picked Lin Fengzhi up and left.
Once they were out of the room, Lin Fengzhi raised his head. His flushed cheeks looked like ripe peaches, and his light brown eyes were watery. Blinking in confusion, he stared at Lu Muchi for a long while, then suddenly grew excited and struggled to put his arms around his neck.
Lu Muchi had just opened the car door when Lin Fengzhi knocked into his forehead.
The impact made a loud thud, and he sucked in a breath from the pain.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Have you been practicing Iron Head? Your head's so hard."
Lin Fengzhi said nothing, only kept pressing close to Lu Muchi's face. His warm breath, carrying the sweet scent of the cocktail, brushed Lu Muchi's face at close range.
"Lu... Lu..." Lin...
The boy's lips were red and moist, brushing Lu Muchi's cheek now and then, teasing him until his throat went terribly dry.
But he did his utmost to restrain himself. His darling was innocent and pure, delicate and precious. He couldn't hurt him.
Lu Muchi played very rough in bed. His bed partners needed at least a couple of weeks to recuperate after leaving his bed.
"Mm, I'm here." His voice was gentle as he carefully laid Lin Fengzhi down on the back seat. "Don't be afraid. I'll take you home to rest. You'll feel better soon."
Whether Lin Fengzhi understood or not, he fussed for a while before falling fast asleep.
The desire that had been stirred up wouldn't subside at all.
Lu Muchi shut the car door and leaned against the car to smoke a cigarette, thinking of Yan Heqing again.
He had spent the past half month helping Lin Fengzhi get familiar with the university and had almost forgotten that he had a perfect substitute.
Lu Muchi pulled the cigarette butt from his mouth, casually tossed it into a trash can, then made a call.
"Find a boy around eighteen, someone quick-witted who can act. Send him to my place tomorrow morning."
Since Yan Heqing wanted to find his little brother, he would give him one.
Sleeping in a bed a meter and a half wide for the first time, Yan Heqing no longer had to curl up. He slept very comfortably, without a single dream, and woke in the sunlight.
This old apartment had another advantage: it faced south and got sunlight in the morning.
Yan Heqing got up and cooked a bowl of egg noodles: a fried egg with a perfectly runny yolk, lightly seasoned alkaline noodles, and two fresh, crisp stalks of greens.
For the past half month, he had eaten on time, with eggs and meat at every meal. His face had filled out just a little, his complexion had improved, and his skin had taken on a faint glow.
He had also bought two new jackets.
Though they were still off-brand, they were quite good compared with his old clothes, warm and windproof.
It was early December, and daytime temperatures had been around five degrees Celsius lately. Going out, Yan Heqing wore a plain black hoodie with a navy padded jacket over it.
A bulging large backpack stood beside the shoe cabinet. Yan Heqing slung it on his back and left.
Metro Line 3 led to Beijing University, while Line 5 went out of the city. Yan Heqing boarded Line 5.
His health was terrible, so obtaining a medical certificate at the hospital had been very easy. He had already asked his teacher for two months of sick leave and would return for his final exams.
He knew Zhao Huilin and her husband would go to the university to corner him.
And his destination that day was-Tian Mountain Reservoir.
Chapter 6: 006
From the final stop on Line 5, Tian Mountain Reservoir was a two-kilometer walk north.
Even on weekdays, plenty of people came to fish at Tian Mountain Reservoir, most of them retired older men.
No fish had been stocked in the reservoir that day, so the fee was only sixty yuan. After paying, Yan Heqing went straight to his spot.
A bay nestled between two mountains.
Beside him was an old man with a grizzled beard. The weather was cold, and today he wore a warm knitted hat and cradled a saline bottle in his arms.
Yan Heqing had given him the saline bottle.
There was nowhere to charge devices at the reservoir, but hot water was available. He could fill the saline bottle with hot water to keep warm, then replace it with more hot water once it cooled.
It worked wonderfully!