Ninth floor

Huang Fuda looked down at the ground. "You haven't left yet?"

"No, I have to stay here tomorrow." Fang Chuan stared intently at him. "Which floor do you live on?"

"9th floor."

Fang Chuan glanced at his assistant, then said to Huang Fuda, "I'm also on the 9th floor, just about to go up."

"Okay. I'll go up first." Huang Fuda lifted his leg and walked towards the elevator, and someone immediately followed behind him. Fang Chuan approached with a smile.

"Let's go together, it's on the way."

His gaze swept along Huang Fuda's suitcase from his wrist, then he turned and looked back towards the door.

Did they have a fight, or did they break up completely?

Lin Fengxiao is currently suspended from his job, so Huang Fuda should know about his ex-wife's situation. I thought I would have to give him another push, but things went surprisingly smoothly...

Are you getting on the elevator or not?

Fang Chuan snapped out of his daze, looked at Huang Fuda standing in the elevator, and quickly followed.

The elevator was quiet. Fang Chuan's eyes darted around, and he deliberately asked, "Did you two have a fight?"

We broke up.

Fang Chuan's eyebrows instantly curved into a smile. "It's better to break up. I've always felt that he wasn't good enough for you. It's better to meet someone better after breaking up with him, right?"

Huang Fuda remained silent. They reached the 9th floor. He walked to his room, turned back to Fang Chuan who was following closely behind, and asked, "Aren't you going back to your room?"

Fang Chuan leaned against the wall, tilted his head, and looked at him, saying, "The room key is with the assistant. I don't know what he's doing. He'll probably be up soon."

"Then I'll go in first and won't wait with you."

Huang Fuda swiped his card to open the room door, pulled his suitcase, and prepared to go inside, but his wrist was suddenly grabbed. He looked down at the hand that was holding him; it was slender.

Fang Chuan withdrew his hand, his gaze leaving Huang Fuda's arm, and then asked softly, "Want to go for a drink? I'm free tonight."

"No."

The door closed, and Fang Chuan's expression immediately fell. His assistant came up and handed him the new room key. Fang Chuan walked a little further away and whispered to his assistant to quietly bring down the luggage from the original room.

The assistant asked, "Mr. Fang, tonight's flight has been cancelled. Shall we book one for tomorrow morning?"

"Don't book yet, the meeting tomorrow morning will be moved online."

Fang Chuan glanced at his room number, which was next to Huang Fuda's. He patted his assistant on the shoulder and said, "I'll give you a raise at the end of the year."

There was no sound from the next room. Fang Chuan held the ointment in his hand and paced back and forth in his room. He gently rubbed it between his fingertips, feeling as if the warmth of Huang Fuda's wrist still lingered on it. That unspeakable feeling stirred from his fingertips all the way to his heart.

Fang Chuan couldn't wait any longer and immediately sat on the bed to call Chen Qing, who hadn't replied to his message yet.

"Ms. Chen, when exactly can we get a divorce? I can't wait any longer."

"It'll be soon. That good-for-nothing went to do drugs the day before yesterday and got arrested. Just wait a little longer."

After hanging up the phone, I waited for a long time. The ointment was warm in my hand, but there was still no sound from next door, not even the sound of running water in the shower. I checked the time; it was 11 p.m. Had Huang Fuda gone straight to sleep after coming in?

If he's asleep, it's really not good to disturb him.

Fang Chuan opened his eyes and lay on the bed, thinking that he and Huang Fuda were simply a match made in heaven. There were so many hotels in Chengdu, yet they were able to stay together. It seemed that some research suggested there was a magnetic field between them, so their magnetic field must be particularly strong.

They're a perfect match.

Lost in thought, he watched the clock hand slowly move to the 2, and was about to take off his clothes and go to sleep when he heard the door next door open.

Fang Chuan jumped out of bed and pressed his ear to the door to listen. He could hear footsteps in the hallway. What was Huang Fuda doing out so late?

Fang Chuan gently opened the door and peeked at Huang Fuda getting into the elevator. He immediately went out as well. He quickly went to the elevator lobby, and after confirming that the elevator had reached the first floor, he ran down the stairs. When he got to the first floor, he saw Huang Fuda leaving the hotel.

Chengdu has a vibrant nightlife; there are still people on the streets at 2 a.m. Huang Fuda went to a bar diagonally opposite the hotel. He couldn't sleep and lay there for five or six hours, but just couldn't fall asleep.

There was a small rainbow painted on the bar sign. Huang Fuda glanced at it and went inside. All the booths were full, so he had to share a table. Huang Fuda frowned and decided to sit alone on a bar stool.

"Hey handsome, are you sure you don't want to share a table? It's more fun with more people. It's okay if you're shy, there are staff members to help you play."

"No, thank you." Huang Fuda glanced at the drinks menu. "Just make two drinks, something a bit stronger."

The bartender was a very talkative person. He had already chatted with Huang Fuda for a long time while mixing the drinks. He tore off a sticky note, wrote down his contact information, put it under the glass, and pushed it in front of Huang Fuda. He said in a sweet voice, "Brother, this drink is on me. Do you want to come to my house for another drink later?"

A hand reached out from behind Huang Fuda's shoulder without anyone noticing; the fingers were long and slender. It snatched the note from under the wine glass, and a laugh came from above, "This brother has an appointment; he wants to have a drink with me first."

Without even turning around, Huang Fuda knew who it was. He took the note back from Fang Chuan and handed it back to the bartender, saying, "Sorry."

Fang Chuan sat on the stool next to Huang Fuda, propped his head up with his hand, and asked, "I've reserved a booth over there, it's quiet, do you want to go there?"

"Isn't it gone?" Huang Fuda's gaze swept over the empty booth.

Fang Chuan could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his expression, so he took the initiative to explain, "That group of people just left, and I caught up with them. Let's go, those guys down there are eyeing you like you're some Tang Monk's flesh. If you sit here any longer, you might get drugged while you're drunk and not even know it."

Huang Fuda tightened his grip on the glass, then downed the drink in one gulp, giving the bartender a gentle smile. "Thank you for the drink, it was very good."

After saying that, Huang Fuda looked at Fang Chuan and asked, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I'm afraid someone will be too heartbroken, after all, I said I'd drink with you." Fang Chuan stood up. "Let's go, let's talk in that booth over there."

The booth was in a quiet, dimly lit corner. The table had just been cleared, and the bartender brought some more drinks and placed them on the table.

"You have work tomorrow, right? Coming here for drinks at this hour, are you not planning to get up tomorrow?" Huang Fuda put his arm under the table and looked at Fang Chuan.

Fang Chuan looked at his actions, rubbed his head in annoyance, and said, "You don't need to hide it, I saw it a long time ago."

Huang Fuda hesitated for a moment, then smiled and took his arm up.

"It must hurt a lot to be wrapped like that. I knew Lin Fengxiao was a bad guy the other day at dinner." Fang Chuan handed Huang Fuda the ointment he had been applying all night. "Want me to help you apply it?"

Huang Fuda picked up the medicine and looked at it, saying, "It doesn't hurt. It just looks scary. I'm prone to getting marks on my body."

You're just being stubborn.

Fang Chuan muttered to himself, then continued drinking as if he were the one who had come to drown his sorrows. After drinking half of it, he suddenly said, "Let's play dice, the loser drinks."

“Fine,” Huang Fuda took the dice and placed them in front of the two of them, “but you can’t beat me.”

This sentence instantly ignited Fang Chuan's competitive spirit, and then, after repeated defeats, he drank himself into a stupor and collapsed on the table.

"Huang Fuda...did you cheat...?"

Huang Fuda chuckled, "No. You can guess it once you've played it a lot."

"Fine," Fang Chuan looked at him with hazy, drunken eyes, then asked with a hint of grievance, "Why don't you ever ask me how I've been these past few years?"

Huang Fuda lowered his eyes and asked, "How have you been these past few years?"

"Not good. Not good at all."

Huang Fuda remained silent after hearing this, simply drinking his wine in quiet contemplation. Seeing his coldness, Fang Chuan persisted, grabbing Huang Fuda's hand and saying, "Boss, why don't you ask me why I'm not doing well? Why don't you ask me about my marriage? I'm a gay man with a child, aren't you even curious?"

Huang Fuda pulled his hand back. "I left voluntarily back then, so I won't ask you why you got married or why you had a child. You seem to be doing well now, Fang Chuan, and I'm happy for you."

The wine glass was slammed onto the table. Fang Chuan frowned, grabbed Huang Fuda's hand again, and questioned, "Why are you happy? What gives you the right to be happy for me? I said I'm not doing well, why don't you ask me?"

“Fang Chuan,” Huang Fuda withdrew his hand and said in a deep voice, “Don’t forget, you’re already married and have children.”

"So we're having an affair, huh?" Fang Chuan hiccuped, smiling with narrowed eyes.

Seeing this, Huang Fuda felt helpless. What reason could he possibly have with a drunkard? Fang Chuan would probably forget everything by the time he woke up tomorrow.

"Boss, why aren't you saying anything?"

Fang Chuan frowned, drunkenly stood up, and walked over to Huang Fuda, sitting down next to him. He put his hands on Huang Fuda's shoulders, making him face him, and said softly, "Boss, have you thought about me?"

Fang Chuan's eyes were bright and eager after he got drunk. Huang Fuda looked at him quietly and then said, "I've thought about it."

"Really? I don't believe it. You're the best at lying."

Huang Fuda removed the hands from his shoulders and said, "Yeah, I was just kidding, it's all fake."

“Then I’ll lie to you about something too,” Fang Chuan chuckled twice, closed his eyes, rested his head on Huang Fuda’s shoulder, and said, “I haven’t thought about you at all in the past five years, because it would make me feel bad whenever I thought about you, so I forgot about you later.”

"It's good that you forgot." He helped the person up from his shoulder, but was then held tightly in his arms. Huang Fuda called out, "Fang Chuan, let go of me."

"I won't let go, or you'll run away again."

"Fang Chuan, you're married. This isn't fair to Miss Chen."

Fang Chuan frowned and said unhappily, "Boss, let's not talk about others. Leave Miss Chen and that unethical Lin guy behind us."

Huang Fuda pulled the man up, stared at him quietly, and said, "How do you know about Lin Fengxiao? Was his recent suspension because of you?"

Fang Chuan sneered, "He deserved it, he got what he deserved."

"yes."

Huang Fuda paid the bill and helped Fang Chuan walk towards the hotel. The sky was just beginning to lighten, carrying a slight chill in the morning air. Fang Chuan kept talking, asking Huang Fuda all sorts of questions about his life.

"Boss, have you had a tough time these past few years? You went to Huazhou all by yourself, a place you didn't know, and you couldn't speak Cantonese. In the end, you even lost all your money. How did you manage to get through it all by yourself?"

"Not tired."

"Boss, did you sleep well?"

"good."

"boss……"

"boss…………"