Drunk Nice Guy

The clinking of glasses, the flattery in the banquet hall, and the harsh discussions about Jiang Lin enveloped Gu Yansheng like a thick, suffocating fog.

He felt a dull ache in the wound on his arm, and a tightness in his chest. To avoid the inquiring gazes and boring small talk, and to suppress the complex emotions surging in his heart, he unknowingly drank a little more than usual.

The alcohol mixed with the weakness and fatigue from blood loss made his consciousness begin to blur and his reactions became much slower.

He was holding on to the last bit of clarity and just wanted to escape from this place. Gu Ting seemed to notice his discomfort and asked him in a low voice if he needed to be sent back.

Gu Yansheng shook his head subconsciously, mumbling that someone was waiting. He pulled out his phone, the light from the screen blinding him. His fingers clumsily swiped through the contacts list, and almost instinctively, he clicked on the pinned name—Jiang Lin.

The call was connected quickly.

"Hello?" Jiang Lin's cold voice came through the receiver, with a hint of barely perceptible fatigue, and there seemed to be Xiaofei's voice calling in the background.

Gu Yansheng was holding the phone. When he heard the voice, his tense nerves relaxed inexplicably. The voice also had a subtle softness and dependence after being drunk.

"Jiang Lin..."

"Well. Where is it?" Jiang Lin's voice was steady and he went straight to the point.

Gu Yansheng tried hard to focus his scattered gaze, identifying the huge neon sign on the hotel's entrance, and reported the hotel's name and address word by word in an extremely obedient manner.

"Today is... my second uncle's birthday party, and I seem to be drunk... are you free to pick me up?"

"Wait for me." Jiang Lin's voice was flat and he hung up the phone neatly.

Gu Yansheng was stunned for a moment before walking out of the banquet hall. The night breeze blew across his burning face, bringing a hint of coolness. He shook his heavy head slightly.

His suit jacket was blown open by the wind, his tie was a little askew, and a few strands of his usually neatly combed hair fell on his forehead. With his pale face and arms wrapped in gauze, he looked rare, fragile and disheveled.

After an unknown amount of time, a black SUV with sleek lines and a low-key color slid silently in front of him and stopped. The window rolled down, revealing Jiang Lin's well-defined profile.

He still smelled of disinfectant, and a lingering trace of weariness lingered between his brows, but his eyes remained sharp as an eagle. He turned his head to look at Gu Yansheng, who stood in the night breeze, looking a little frail, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Get in the car." The voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable command.

Gu Yansheng uttered a slow "Oh" and obediently opened the car door and got in the passenger seat. The sound of the seat belt buckling was particularly clear in the quiet car.

The car merged smoothly into the night traffic. Jiang Lin drove intently, his profile looking particularly stern under the flickering streetlights. The car was quiet, with only the gentle sound of the air conditioner blowing air.

Gu Yansheng leaned back in his chair. The alcohol made his brain work slowly, but his eyes fell uncontrollably and straight on Jiang Lin's slender fingers holding the steering wheel, then to his neat jaw, tightly pursed thin lips, and high nose bridge... and finally stopped at the pair of deep eyes that were now staring at the road ahead.

He looked for a long time, his eyes focused and confused, as if he was identifying someone who was both familiar and unfamiliar.

Just when Jiang Lin thought he would remain silent, Gu Yansheng suddenly spoke. His voice was heavy with sleepiness and the slowness of alcohol, but it was also very clear.

"Jiang Lin..." He paused, as if trying to form his words, "Are you...looking at houses...at Yunjian Villa?"

Jiang Lin's fingers gripping the steering wheel tightened imperceptibly, causing the car's steady speed to slow down slightly for a moment. He turned his head and quickly glanced at Gu Yansheng.

In the dim light, Gu Yansheng's cheeks were flushed with alcohol, but his eyes looked at him with unusual persistence, with a childish seriousness that seemed to insist on getting an answer.

Jiang Lin felt a flicker of surprise. How had Gu Yansheng heard about his apartment-hunting trip? And in this state?

He had indeed visited Yunjian Villa and even had some initial interest. It had a tranquil environment, top-tier security, and most importantly, each villa had access to a natural radon-containing hot spring. He had carefully reviewed the water quality report, which showed that the various minerals contained in it were beneficial for improving physical fitness.

Gu Yansheng's skin hypersensitivity in rainy days is partly due to his physical constitution. Soaking in hot springs may be of some help to him. Moreover, it is less than fifteen minutes' drive from Gu Yansheng's research institute.

But he hadn't figured out how to tell Gu Yansheng. This was no small matter, and he needed a suitable time to tell him, not when he was drunk or from other people's gossip.

Jiang Lin quickly retracted his gaze and looked back at the road ahead. His tone was as calm as if he was discussing tomorrow's weather. He evaded the main point and said perfunctorily, "Yeah, I've seen it. The environment is nice."

He didn't deny it, but that was all, no explanation, no follow-up.

If Gu Yansheng was sober, he might have keenly caught his pause and deliberate avoidance, and might have asked further questions.

But at this moment, Gu Yansheng's brain was completely paralyzed by alcohol and fatigue. He heard Jiang Lin's answer - "Yes, I have seen it." This seemed to confirm what Zhao Peng and the others said.

And then? And then… it seemed like there was nothing else. Jiang Lin's voice was calm, without any ripples.

He blinked blankly, as if trying to digest this simple information, his long eyelashes casting a small shadow under his eyes. He didn't get any further explanation, and he didn't ask any more questions or get upset like he usually did.

He simply slowly withdrew his gaze, leaning back in his chair, his eyes vacant as he stared out the window at the dazzling lights whizzing by. Alcohol had completely taken over his consciousness, completely obliterating his ability to think, leaving only the most instinctive quiet and obedience.

Jiang Lin glanced at the person in the passenger seat. Gu Yansheng tilted his head, closed his eyes, and his breathing became even and long. The abnormal blush on his cheeks had not completely faded, and his brows were slightly furrowed.

It seemed as if his arm was still aching from his sleep. His defenseless and quiet appearance, like a large doll, clearly conveyed one message - he was drunk, and very drunk.

As childhood friends for so many years, Jiang Lin was too familiar with Gu Yansheng's state after getting drunk - he would not make any noise or noise, and would be extremely well-behaved, but he would lose most of his thinking ability, become slow to react, and would answer whatever was asked. He might even have blackouts afterwards, just like now.

Looking at Gu Yansheng's stunned gaze, the corners of Jiang Lin's tightly pursed lips seemed to relax an imperceptible arc, but a complex dark light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

At this moment, an idea popped up in his mind, or rather, a willful word that was suppressed in his heart and should not be spoken out loud, which broke through Jiang Lin's usual calm barrier without warning.

His voice echoed in the quiet carriage, low and steady, yet with an unusual, almost tentative tone.

"Gu Yansheng, the hospital has decided that I will go to Shilong Town next month and stay in the countryside for three months."

He paused, his gaze fixed on the road ahead, illuminated by the headlights. His fingers gripping the steering wheel tightened silently, their knuckles turning slightly white. The words he truly wanted to say rolled on the tip of his tongue for a few seconds, but he finally uttered them softly with an impulse that even he found absurd.

"...Will you come with me?"

The moment the words fell, Jiang Lin clearly saw from the corner of his eye the stunned figure in the passenger seat. His thick eyelashes fluttered twice like tired butterfly wings, then...slowly and completely closed. The sound of even, long breathing almost immediately replaced the previous silence.

He fell asleep.

As expected.

"Oh……"

A very light sigh, thick with self-mockery, silently escaped Jiang Lin's lips. His tense jawline strangely relaxed a little at this moment.

Shilong Town Health Center is one of the health centers Zhongnao supports. In the past few years, the hospital has arranged for him to go to the countryside to provide support, but he has always declined for various reasons. He cannot leave this city, or rather, he cannot leave the person who needs him to be "on call" at all times.

But this time, because of the inevitable hard lever of promotion to associate professor that was pressing on his career path, he could no longer push it forward.

He received this notice in the morning, and he struggled for a while at that time, but during the emergency consultation... when he saw the injured Gu Yansheng with a pale face waiting for treatment, at that moment when his mind lost control, his instinctive desire for Gu Yansheng's "absolute safety" and "controllable range" increased.

He needed to confirm that, even if it was just a drunken rant destined to go unanswered, this person was still within his "territory," even if it was just a drunken rant.

Jiang Lin took a deep breath silently, suppressing the inappropriate fragility and willfulness in his chest back under his cold rationality. His stress disorder caused by Gu Yansheng's physical injury and illness was getting more and more serious.

He stepped on the accelerator, and the black SUV accelerated steadily, carrying the sleeping Gu Yansheng towards their common home.