Upon seeing A Luo return, Yi Li quickly stood up and sat down, his cheeks flushed even more than before.
Seeing that Wen Yuhan was still standing there, he quickly waved to Wen Yuhan and said, "Senior Brother Wen, are you done with your call? Come and sit down."
Wen Yuhan snapped out of her daze, nodded, draped the dry towel over her shoulder, and returned to the bar.
Most of the ice in the glass had melted by now. Wen Yuhan took a sip and felt that the taste of the wine had become a little weak, so he asked A Luo for another glass.
Seeing this, Yi Li also raised his wine cup to Wen Yuhan and said, "Come on, Senior Brother Wen."
Wen Yuhan glanced at the wine in Yi Li's hand and then at his sincere eyes, and smiled slightly.
Whether he was genuinely drunk or doing it on purpose, Yi Li was holding the same wine glass that Pei Shaocheng had used earlier.
"Here." Wen Yuhan clinked glasses with Yi Li and took a sip as if nothing had happened.
When Yi Li saw that Pei Shaocheng not only didn't remind him that he had used the wrong wine glass, but even looked at him with a hint of indulgence, he was overjoyed and drank the wine directly from the spot where Pei Shaocheng had just touched.
"A-Luo." Wen Yuhan rested his elbow on the table, shook his empty glass at A-Luo, and smiled. "Another one."
A Luo raised an eyebrow: "This wine has a strong aftereffect, don't blame me for not warning you."
"It's rare for someone to treat me, isn't it?" Wen Yuhan bit her hair tie and tied it back up.
A Luo mixed three more drinks. Yi Li took the cup that Pei Shaocheng had used and gave the other two to Wen Yuhan and Pei Shaocheng respectively.
Wen Yuhan took the cup and was about to drink it when Pei Shaocheng suddenly said in a deep voice, "Don't drink any more after you finish this cup, it'll give you a stomachache."
"Mmm." Wen Yuhan responded subconsciously, but Pei Shaocheng immediately followed up with the second half of his sentence:
"Be good, Xiao Li."
The two voices overlapped, sounding abrupt and clear in the empty bar.
Even A Luo couldn't help but clear her throat, glance away, and silently wipe the cup.
Wen Yuhan paused, then after a long while lowered her head and chuckled softly, sighing, "Tsk, how embarrassing..."
He sniffed, downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, and then, avoiding Pei Shaocheng's teasing gaze, said to Yi Li, "Listen to your senior brother Pei, let's call it a day."
After saying that, he stood up, leaned on the table, thanked A-Luo, and then turned and walked out of the bar.
"Wait a minute!" A'Luo hurriedly called out to the person, frowning as she said, "The rain hasn't stopped yet!"
Wen Yuhan waved to her with his back turned and smiled, "It's a fifty-yuan umbrella, it's a waste not to use it."
His tone was as nonchalant as ever, and along with the sudden increase in the sound of rain as the door opened, it dissipated into the darkness...
A note from the author:
I recommend my friend's novel, "Being Spoiled in the Arms of a Top-Tier Alpha" by Shui Qingyin;
To pay off their debts, the Shen family sold Shen An, who had just turned 18, to the president of the Fu Group as a form of solace.
Fu Fengning, the president of the Fu Group, is an S-class alpha, one in a million. Rumor has it that he is ruthless and cold-blooded, and that he climbed to the top by stepping on the bones of countless people. The group's 100,000 employees secretly call him "Tyrant".
The Shen family felt guilty for selling their child to a living devil, and those in the know shook their heads, all feeling sorry for Shen An.
Unexpectedly, after being sold into servitude, Shen An's situation took a completely different turn—
People witnessed Fu Fengning, who has severe mysophobia, wrapping the drunk Shen An in a bespoke suit, holding him tightly, and refusing to let go or even flinch when Shen An vomited all over him.
Shen An wanted to learn piano, so Fu Fengning bought him a limited edition Steinway ebony grand piano, a world-class item, to practice on. Shen An said he was bored at home, so Fu Fengning sponsored a travel reality show, just so he could have fun on the program.
After Shen An became famous, some haters claimed that she had become a mistress to a married sugar daddy. Before the rumors could spread, Fu Fengning posted their marriage certificate on Weibo with the hashtag #ThisIsMyWife,DefamationAndRumorsWillBeSummoned#.
Later, people said that Shen An was lucky because his ancestors' graves were emitting auspicious smoke, which is why he was favored by the tyrant of the empire.
Only Fu Fengning himself knew how pitiful the 18-year-old omega, whom he had coaxed and tricked into signing a marriage contract, looked as he stood trembling and frail in front of him.
At that moment, Fu Fengning lowered his head, took off his warm coat and wrapped it around Shen An, pulling him into his arms: "Be good, don't be afraid of me."
Don't be afraid of me, Shen An. What you thought was our first meeting was nothing more than my desperate and painstaking efforts to mend a broken relationship.
⚹
Obsessive, ruthless, and possessive top x Socially awkward, pitiful bottom
Chapter 23
A can of hot coffee rolled out of the vending machine, and Wen Yuhan's phone battery was completely drained.
He put the black-screened phone back in his pocket, frowned as he bent down to pick up his coffee, and unconsciously pressed his hand against his stomach.
The pain forcefully pulled Wen Yuhan back from her emotional detachment, finally giving her a sense of being alive again.
He unzipped the pack, poured the coffee into his mouth, then took out his cigarette case, lit his last cigarette, and casually wrote on the torn cigarette case with a pen: "Leave a place for hot milk, and show some love to the insomniac homeless."
He then got stuck in the vending machine, smiled knowingly, and continued walking slowly along the riverbank with his umbrella.
At the end of the riverbank, there's a small hill with an abandoned railway track on top. You can see it directly from Wen Yuhan's rented room. When he returned to Yancheng, he chose to live here because the rent was cheap, and also because of this railway track.
Wen Yuhan loved to take walks here, especially at dusk, watching the sun slowly sink into the horizon, the wind blowing dandelions from the hillside into the sky, giving him a brief sense of joy, a joy he desperately needed.
"Meow—"
A faint meow suddenly reached Wen Yuhan's ears. He stopped and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see the grass not far away rustling slightly.
He hesitated for a moment, then looked away and turned to walk forward.
"Meow—"
The kitten meowed again, its voice hoarse, drowned out by the sound of rain. "It might freeze to death if this continues," Wen Yuhan sighed, closing her eyes. Unable to bear it any longer, she turned back to the edge of the grass and gently parted the blades.
There, a tiny, colorless ball of fur huddled in the grass, howling. Its fur was completely soaked, sparsely clinging to its body, making it look thin and small.
Seeing that it had been discovered, the kitten meowed even louder and waddled toward Wen Yuhan, its two big eyes bulging outwards, looking like an alien species.
Wen Yuhan squatted down, poked the kitten's head with her hand, and looked around to see if there was a mother cat.
"Where's your mother?" Wen Yuhan asked it.
"Meow!" the kitten responded in a high-pitched voice, its tone cracking.
Wen Yuhan helplessly crushed the coffee can and picked up the little thing. The kitten seemed to be frozen and snuggled into Wen Yuhan's arms as soon as it touched him.
Wen Yuhan had never raised animals before, and she was a little at a loss when holding this dry little thing.
He quickened his pace toward home, and without even changing his clothes, he grabbed a hairdryer to dry the kitten's fur.
The phone, which had finally started charging, looked at the ugly, constantly meowing kitten in front of her. Wen Yuhan searched for nearby stores that were still open so she could buy it some milk. She then saw some online comments saying that kittens shouldn't drink cow's milk because they're lactose intolerant, so she increased the difficulty and started looking for goat's milk.
The kitten seemed completely unaware that Wen Yuhan was heartbroken over it, and lay down on Wen Yuhan's lap, purring. Wen Yuhan scratched its chin and sighed, "I don't even have milk to drink myself."
Finally, Wen Yuhan found goat milk at a 24-hour pet hospital. But it was too late, and they wouldn't deliver. So he took a taxi to pick it up himself. By the time the kitten had eaten and drunk its fill and nestled into the cardboard box Wen Yuhan had found for it, it was already dawn.
Wen Yuhan quickly took a shower, set an alarm for two hours later, and leaned back on the sofa, intending to rest for a while. However, despite her heavy eyelids, she couldn't fall asleep. Just as her consciousness began to drift off, there was another knock on the door.
"Teacher Wen! I bought breakfast!"
Xiao Yang outside looked confident; he must have slept well last night. Wen Yuhan shielded his eyes with his arm, a helpless smile playing on his lips.
He got up and opened the door for Xiaoyang. Xiaoyang was slightly taken aback when she saw Wen Yuhan: "Teacher, what's wrong?!"
In his eyes, Wen Yuhan's face was extremely pale, with dark circles under his eyes, and he looked as if a gust of wind could blow him away. He looked even more haggard than usual.
Wen Yuhan turned her back and went into the bathroom to wash up. When she saw herself in the mirror, she was stunned for a moment, then shook her head with a wry smile. She looked like she had taken a lot of drugs. She was terribly ugly.
He brushed the stray hairs from his forehead, obscuring his tired and dull eyes.
Xiao Yang was quite surprised to find a cat in Wen Yuhan's house. In his memory, his teacher had always been someone who hated trouble and couldn't even take care of himself, let alone a cat. But then he thought that perhaps having a little creature to keep Teacher Wen company wouldn't be bad, at least it could distract him from his constant smoking and drinking.
"Come with me to the pet store after the meeting today, let's see if we can find it a home." Wen Yuhan took a sip of hot soy milk, frowned, and put the soy milk back on the table.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Xiao Yang asked with concern, looking at Wen Yuhan's listless appearance.
"No." Wen Yuhan rubbed his aching temples and smiled. "I drank too much again last night."
Xiao Yang sighed heavily: "What do I have to do to get you to listen to my advice even a little bit, teacher?"
Before he finished speaking, Wen Yuhan got up and went to rummage through the cabinet for cigarettes again, but Xiao Yang stopped him.
"You have to quit smoking today. Sit down and eat your breakfast." Xiao Yang said, trying to push Wen Yuhan back into her chair. But before she could even use her strength, Wen Yuhan stumbled and almost fell. Luckily, she managed to catch herself on the table.
Xiao Yang was startled: "Teacher! I'm sorry, I..."
Wen Yuhan was taken aback, but she wasn't angry; her lips just turned even paler.
He clicked his tongue and chuckled, "Youth is wonderful, so full of energy."
Xiao Yang frowned: "The teacher is too weak, even though he's not much older than me." He looked at Wen Yuhan worriedly, "Are you sure you still want to go to the meeting today? Maybe we should talk to Producer Feng and reschedule..."
"No need." Wen Yuhan tapped his head with his index finger. "Meetings rely on brains, not running a marathon."
"Meow—meow—" The kitten must have been woken up, because it started meowing again. Its voice sounded noticeably stronger than yesterday.
Wen Yuhan made some more goat milk powder for it and squatted in front of the cardboard box to watch the kitten nurse. She scratched its ear and said sincerely, "It's really ugly."
"The down hasn't been changed yet." Xiao Yang squatted down next to Wen Yuhan and looked at him, saying, "Why don't you leave it here, teacher?"
Just as Xiao Yang had predicted, Wen Yuhan said, "Forget it, I can't even take care of myself, let alone a cat." Although he said that, his eyes were filled with tenderness when he looked at the kitten.
Xiao Yang rarely saw Wen Yuhan like this, and before she knew it, she was drawn to him again. Xiao Yang patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, I'm here for you! Back in my hometown, I even helped deliver kittens."
Wen Yuhan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "That impressive?"
Xiao Yang nodded vigorously and grinned at Wen Yuhan: "Teacher, please give it a name."
"Hmm... what should we call it?" Wen Yuhan stared blankly at the kitten with its round belly, and didn't say anything more.
Xiao Yang waited quietly to the side, neither urging nor offering any suggestions. He thoroughly enjoyed the scene; Wen Yuhan looked so beautiful in the sunlight that he couldn't take his eyes off her.
"Sigh..." After a long while, Wen Yuhan sighed and stood up.
Have you thought it through?
Wen Yuhan shook her head: "No, how about we call her Mimi?"
Xiao Yang blinked and chuckled, "You're a screenwriter, calling me Mimi is too casual..."
"Then let's go with Xiaomi."
"Uh..." Xiao Yang finally realized that Wen Yuhan had been lost in thought and hadn't been thinking about the cat's name at all.
"Let's go, it's time to leave," Wen Yuhan said as she changed her shoes in the entryway. "We'll get stuck in traffic if we're late."