Chapter 11

The winter wind was biting cold, night had fallen, and a few stars twinkled faintly in the distance. Just as darkness was about to fall, the streetlights on both sides of the long street snapped on, casting a warm, dim light that illuminated the hurried pedestrians on their way home.

After nightfall, Puning Road is illuminated with colorful neon lights, and there is a constant stream of vehicles, making it the most bustling place in the entire city at night.

There is a bar called "Shan Hai" located in the most conspicuous part of the bustling city. A row of bodyguards stands in front of the door. Whenever a luxury car stops, a doorman will immediately go up, bend down to open the door, and put on a pleasing smile.

When Wen Yan arrived, the venue was just starting to heat up. After getting out of the car and handing the keys to the doorman, he strode inside. The head waiter immediately ran up to him obsequiously, bowing slightly and saying, "Young Master Wen, Young Master Xu is in the Bai Xi Hall."

Wen Yan nodded, disdainfully pushing aside the drunken stranger who was boldly leaning against him and swaying his hips, and went upstairs without looking at him. Pushing open the door to the Bai Xi Hall, Xu Muchen's wailing and howling came from inside. Wen Yan paused, feeling an urge to turn around and leave immediately.

But Xu Muchen still saw him. He grabbed the microphone in one hand and pulled Wen Yan in with the other, still singing as he went. After Wen Yan sat down and saw the lyrics, he suddenly realized that it was a popular ballad recently, with a slow and deep rhythm, expressing longing for a lover.

But when Xu Muchen sang it, it lost its original flavor and instead conveyed a sense of destruction because it couldn't be obtained.

Wen Yan poured herself a glass of wine, speechlessly enduring Xu Muchen's torment.

Xu Muchen sang a ballad with heart-wrenching emotion. By the time he finished, his voice was hoarse, and his back was soaked with sweat. He grabbed his wine glass and took a big gulp before finally unbuttoning his shirt and sitting down.

"I feel terrible, I want to cry." After saying that, she poured herself another full glass and was about to gulp it down when Wen Yan stopped her.

"If you've asked me to come watch you drink, then I won't keep you company." With that, he prepared to get up and leave.

Xu Muchen couldn't let him leave like that. He had gone to great lengths to get him to come out. Although Xu Shao had a wide circle of friends, he had very few people he could confide in. Unfortunately, Wen Yan was the only one he could contact at the moment.

So he immediately put down his glass and raised his hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright, I was wrong." But as soon as he said it, he felt that he was being too cowardly. He was the one who was suffering, yet he was being asked to give in to Wen Yan.

He is not to be trifled with.

"Are you even human? How can you bear to abandon your childhood friend who's about to lose his freedom and be forced into the grave of marriage?" After saying that, she glanced at Wen Yan with a rather resentful expression.

Wen Yan ignored him, but turned his toes and sat down again. Xu Muchen saw that he didn't intend to leave, so he smiled, moved closer to him, and continued, "Tell me, now that same-sex marriage is legal, why is the old man still so unwilling to accept it and insists that I marry that daughter of the Ye family?"

"I'm as gay as I can get, how am I supposed to marry a woman and have children? This old man's joke is way too much." After Xu Muchen finished speaking, he gave Wen Yan a deep look, and when he spoke again, his tone was tinged with envy.

"You're so lucky, you're getting engaged to Sang Ning soon."

Wen Yan was amused and then slowly said, "If your parents were to create another account, they probably wouldn't care."

As the alcohol took effect, Xu Muchen became somewhat drunk. He couldn't see Wen Yan's face clearly, which was right in front of him, but he could vaguely make out the playful tone in his voice, so he laughed along with him.

“If they could still have children, I would throw a huge banquet, three days and three nights, inviting everyone in Haishi to eat a continuous feast.” He reached out and touched his wine glass, his tone somewhat helpless: “But they can’t have children anymore, the Xu family line is going to end.” After saying that, he leaned close to Wen Yan mysteriously and whispered in his ear: “I bought a plane to fly to the United States tomorrow night. If the old man doesn’t agree, I will never come back for the rest of my life. No matter who he is, I will not give in.”

After saying that, he lay back down and muttered, "Tao Zeqian is a heartless bastard, a hypocrite, a wolf in sheep's clothing. I gave him my whole heart, and he just denied our relationship in front of the old man, making him lose face. Now he's busy arranging blind dates for me... Bastard, scumbag!" He looked like he had been abandoned. Wen Yan shook his head and slowly swallowed the glass of wine in his hand.

He cursed for a while, then gradually fell silent. Just when Wen Yan thought he had fallen asleep, he said in a gloomy voice, "Wen Yan, are you really going to marry Sang Ning?"

Wen Yan nodded subconsciously. But before she could finish nodding, she heard Xu Muchen ask, "Do you really like him?"

“We grew up together, and I can tell at a glance what you like and dislike. Yes, you are very good to Sang Ning, and that kid likes you to death. But ask yourself honestly, Wen Yan, you only treat him like a brother to a younger brother, right? What he wants and what you can give are not the same thing.”

"Did you agree to get engaged to him because you like him or because you pity him? If you don't like Sang Ning, you should say so as soon as possible, lest the truth come out and it's too late to take it back."

After spouting all that high-sounding道理 (moral principles), Xu Muchen was somewhat impressed with himself. His own love life was a complete mess, yet he still stood by and watched Wen Yan. He didn't get a rebuttal from Wen Yan, and instead got up and sauntered towards the door, saying, "I'm going to pee. Do as you please."

Xu Muchen's words struck Wen Yan like a thunderbolt, leaving him stunned. Even though he wanted to refute Xu Muchen, to say that his words were baseless and that he simply loved Sang Ning, he was powerless to say it.

He can distinguish which kind of liking he has.

He comes from a happy family; he has an older brother and two children. The family business has fallen to his brother, so he doesn't have the pressure of being an only child like Xu Muchen. From childhood to adulthood, he has never liked either girls or boys. Many people, both male and female, have confessed their feelings to him, but he has always rejected them outright.

To be honest, he was a romantic. He had longed for love, but he had never met someone who moved him. He didn't pursue love too much and just went with the flow.

Until Sang Ning confessed her feelings to him. He wanted to refuse at the time, but when he saw Sang Nian's tearful face, he suddenly couldn't bear it, so he said he needed to think about it.

Before he could even think it through, he received news that Sang Ning was ill. During that time, Sang Nian lost a lot of weight, was constantly listless, and looked like he was about to die.

So he agreed.

Later, Sang Ning recovered from his illness and returned to school. When he graduated from university, both sets of parents, seeing how hard they had worked over the years, started arranging for their engagement.

Let's get engaged then.

The romance that Wen Yan had been waiting for never came. He thought maliciously that being with Sang Ning like this wasn't so bad.

But now that Xu Muchen had pointed it out so bluntly, Wen Yan finally felt somewhat ashamed. However, the news of the engagement had already spread throughout Hai City, and the invitations had all been sent out; it was impossible for him to back out now.

So he could only secretly vow in his heart that he would treat Sang Ning well from now on, better, and the best.

Fusang Architecture Design owns a five-story detached villa in the heart of the city, where land is extremely valuable, and it also has a circular garden attached to the outside.

However, it is now winter, and the flowers that should have bloomed in spring have naturally withered in accordance with the laws of nature. The fountain next to the flower bed has also frozen with a thin layer of ice because the weather is too cold.

Sang Nian's work wasn't difficult, but it was varied. He usually managed to finish it during working hours, but today he dragged it out until after work, leaving his workstation the only one with the light on in the entire villa. His eyes were fixed on the numbers on the computer screen, while his peripheral vision glanced towards the stairwell.

The first floor of this villa is a rest area, the second and third floors are work areas, the fourth floor is the boss's office and meeting room, and the fifth floor is an attic that no one has ever been up to. It is said to be Wen Yan's art studio.

It's been a week since I started work, and today is Friday. Wen Yan hasn't shown up yet. After making some inquiries, I learned that he went out of town to attend an awards ceremony for the architectural design industry and was returning today. This morning, Sang Nian was sent to deliver documents to a client and missed Wen Yan's arrival at work, so he could only wait here for him to get off work, hoping to create an opportunity for a chance encounter.

The clock struck seven. It was pitch black outside, with only the colored lights hanging on the bare branches of the trees in the garden still casting a faint glow.

Sang Nian sighed, wondering why Wen Yan hadn't come downstairs yet.

Or perhaps he has already left without his knowledge.

Thinking of this, a hint of annoyance appeared on Sang Nian's delicate face, her fine eyebrows furrowed tightly, and her bright black eyes gleamed slightly in the darkness.

A sudden gust of wind swept in from outside, rattling the windows. Sang Nian frowned and looked out, only to see snow already falling, flakes of pure white. A surge of joy rose within him. He glanced at the quiet office, then gritted his teeth and shut down the computer.

There's no rush.

As soon as he went downstairs and opened the door, a biting wind carrying snowflakes rushed into Sang Ning's arms. He wrapped his coat tighter around himself and then stood in the garden.

Reaching out to the sky, snowflakes as small as goose feathers fell into my palm, melting instantly into water and leaving a small puddle on my fair hand.

Snowflakes are pure and beautiful; they come quietly and leave without a trace.

Standing in the deserted, dark garden, enveloped by the heavy snow, Sang Nian felt inexplicably lonely.

He suddenly remembered building snowmen with Qiu Yang when he was a child. Back then, they didn't have enough clothes to keep out the cold, and they would shiver as they built the snowmen. But he didn't feel bitter; on the contrary, he was very happy and content.

Especially when they compared the snowman's appearance with Qiu Yang's after it was built.

But now, the snow is falling as usual, but there is no longer a person named "Qiu Yang" by his side, nor is there a brother who would feel that he is cold and warm his hands with his own icy hands.

Tears, scalding hot, rolled down her cheeks without her noticing, but instantly turned icy cold in the chilly wind. Sang Nian took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and walked away.

When he reached the gate, he heard the sound of a car behind him. He turned around and the headlights were blinding. He squinted with difficulty and when he opened his eyes halfway, he saw Wen Yan's black Bugatti.

His mood suddenly brightened, and he took a half step back. But just as the Bugatti was about to pass by, he accidentally fell to the ground. However, he didn't control his strength well, and the moment he fell, a strong pain shot from his left ankle to his brain. He groaned and realized that he seemed to have really twisted his ankle.

Then he heard the Bugatti door open, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps in the snow beside him, and then Wen Yan's worried question, "Are you alright?"

Sang Nian slowly raised his head, his face pale and his eyes slightly red. He looked surprised when he saw Wen Yan, then sniffed and said in great pain, "I twisted my ankle." He even let out a muffled groan at the right moment.

By the light of the car headlights, Wen Yan could see the face of the person who had fallen to the ground. He unconsciously frowned, and his tone suddenly turned cold: "Sang Nian?"

Ha, he recognized me right away again.

Sang Nian's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.