Chapter 8. Did you drink?

Lin Yi turned to leave, but Li Rui quickly grabbed his wrist. "Lin Yi, I really didn't know Uncle was here too. Zhang Zexuan only said he was going to treat me to dinner, I thought..."

Lin Yi pushed his hand away, a hint of annoyance appearing in her beautiful peach blossom eyes: "Do you think that tightwad Zhang Zexuan would be so generous?"

Zhang Zexuan, who was called out, immediately became unhappy and jumped up from his chair: "Hey! You two are cricketing in front of me, that's really unethical!"

Despite saying that, he still rushed from the back of the private room to the door, grabbed Lin Yi's shoulder, and said with a grin, "Brother Yi, since you're already here, why don't you do me the honor? I didn't expect Li Rui to invite you, but since we've run into each other, why don't you finish your meal before you leave?"

Lin Yi's gaze passed over Zhang Zexuan's shoulder and glanced at Xie Chun, who was sitting inside.

Although he disliked his father, he still wanted to maintain a semblance of father-son harmony in front of his friends. Besides, if he insisted on leaving now, it would be difficult to explain when he met Shen Beidao later.

He nodded reluctantly, which could be considered tacit agreement.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Zexuan, who loved watching the drama unfold, pushed Lin Yi inside and led him to the seat next to Xie Chun. He then gestured with his chin towards the young intern sitting there, saying, "Hey, you, get up and let Lin Yi sit here."

The intern was clearly annoyed by the sudden order, and frowned as she retorted, "There are so many empty seats, why do I have to give them up? Besides, my name is Du Xiaoman, not Xiaoshui."

"Grain Buds? I don't care if it's Heavy Snow or Spring Equinox!" Zhang Zexuan acted unreasonably. "Do you know who this is? My brother Yi, the leader of our group of friends! If the leader doesn't sit in the main seat, who will? Who do you think you are? Go sit on the side!"

These words were full of hostility, and Du Xiaoman's face instantly turned red. She stood up abruptly, looked at Xie Chun, and said with suppressed grievance in her voice, "Mr. Xie, I'll wait for you in the car. I won't eat this meal."

Everyone in the room could hear the sourness in his words.

Xie Chun opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to smooth things over, but Lin Yi had already sat down without any politeness, ignoring the intern next to him, picked up a clean glass, poured some wine, and raised his glass to Xie Chun: "Dad, it's been a long time, I'd like to toast you."

I saw him just the day before yesterday; it's been quite a while.

Xie Chun glanced at Du Xiaoman as she left, then at his indifferent son beside him, and finally raised his glass and lightly clinked it with Lin Yi's: "Cheers."

After a few drinks, the atmosphere eased a bit.

Seeing that things had progressed sufficiently, Xie Chun put down his chopsticks and casually mentioned, "Xiao Yi, I heard your school is encouraging internships now? The Jiangzhou branch is currently short of a manager, what do you think..."

"I'm not going..." Lin Yi refused without even thinking.

"Uncle!" Zhang Zexuan interrupted Lin Yi loudly, a fawning smile flashing across his face. "I was just looking for an internship! Do you think I'm up to the task? I don't ask for anything else, just that if Lin Yi becomes the person in charge, I'll be his assistant!"

His words, seemingly advocating for himself, actually accepted the proposal on behalf of Lin Yi, effectively blocking any way out.

Lin Yi glared at Zhang Zexuan: "Aren't you busy playing your game competitions lately? Do you even have time to go to work?"

"Hey! Yi-ge, you don't understand. I call this balancing work and life!"

Zhang Zexuan leaned closer to Lin Yi and said in a low voice, "Our lousy school can't compare to your top university. Without an internship certificate and a three-party agreement, they won't issue a graduation certificate! I finally got an internship opportunity, so I have to fight for it, right?"

After he finished speaking, he turned to Xie Chun, his tone carrying a hint of coquetry, "My dear uncle, please give me a chance, I promise I won't hold Lin Yi back!"

Xie Chun was amused by him and looked at Lin Yi with gentle eyes: "Okay, then you two discuss it. I'll inform HR and we can arrange things for you at any time."

Zhang Zexuan: "Thank you, Uncle. I'd like to propose a toast to you!"

Xie Chun smiled and clinked glasses with him. Their eyes met, and they understood each other perfectly.

Lin Yi, seething with anger, said, "Since you're so considerate, why not include Li Rui as well? What's the point of just arranging Zhang Zexuan?"

Li Rui, who was quietly eating his food, was suddenly called out and immediately waved his hand: "No need to trouble you, Uncle. I'm preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam and I don't have enough time."

Xie Chun smiled and nodded: "Li Rui is still as studious as ever."

From then on, Zhang Zexuan's mouth never stopped, and he began to emotionally reminisce about the past: "Uncle, you don't know, when Lin Yi was a kid, he was really fierce!"

Once, I was bullied by the fat guy from the next street, and Lin Yi stood up for me. That guy, he could take on three people at once without flinching! From that moment on, I considered him my boss!

He spoke with great enthusiasm, gesturing wildly, trying to emphasize the "unbreakable" brotherhood between them and attempting to bridge the gap between Lin Yi and Xie Chun...

...

After chatting idly for another half hour, Lin Yi finally understood the purpose of today's meal: Xie Chun wanted to take the opportunity to ease tensions, and Zhang Zexuan wanted to take advantage of the situation to get an internship opportunity.

Seeing that it was almost time, he put down his chopsticks, stood up, and said, "I have class tonight, so I'll go back to school first. You guys take your time eating."

Zhang Zexuan immediately transformed into his "number one lackey," standing up and saying, "I'll see you off."

The two walked to the restaurant entrance and, after confirming that no one was around, Zhang Zexuan dropped his playful demeanor and lowered his voice, saying, "Buddy, don't worry, with me here, I guarantee I'll ruin things for them. What dares to covet my uncle?"

Lin Yi: "Mm."

Although he seems carefree and irresponsible, he's actually quite reliable when it matters.

Zhang Zexuan paused, then put on that pitiful expression again, clasped his hands together, and said, "But you really have to help me with the three-party agreement... My graduation certificate is counting on you!"

Lin Yi's mind was already on the underground parking garage, thinking about Shen Beidao who was waiting for him. He had no intention of getting entangled with him any longer, so he nodded and said, "I know, stop nagging."

Upon receiving the promise, Zhang Zexuan immediately beamed, his expression changing faster than flipping through a book: "Alright! Take care, Yi-ge! Have a safe trip back to school!"

Lin Yi pretended to walk slowly towards the elevator. When he saw Zhang Zexuan return to the restaurant behind him, he jogged all the way to the underground parking garage.

His eagerness was like that of a small wild animal finally released from its cage, rushing impatiently towards the "broad chest".

He found the familiar black Maybach, opened the passenger door, and got in, his breathing still slightly labored.

"Hmm?" Shen Beidao keenly detected a trace of alcohol, which mixed with Lin Yi's original refreshing scent, creating an even more peculiar aroma.

He turned to look at him: "Have you been drinking?"

"No, I didn't drink much," Lin Yi said somewhat guiltily, avoiding his deep gaze. "Just one cup."

He didn't know whether Shen Beidao liked drinking or liked people who drank.

Just then, Shen Beidao leaned over without warning.

Lin Yi could even see the individual eyelashes behind his gold-rimmed glasses, as well as the clean lines and curves of his collarbone at the collar of his shirt.

His arm reached across Lin Yi's chest to pull the passenger seatbelt.

This action brought the two closer together, and Lin Yi could almost feel the airflow from his breath brushing against his sensitive cheek.

His mind went completely blank for a moment, and his body tensed up slightly involuntarily... He thought, if only I could kiss him...

With a soft click, the seatbelt was fastened.

But Shen Beidao did not retreat immediately. His gaze lingered on Lin Yi's slightly trembling Adam's apple for two seconds.

Their gazes were intensely focused, and the scene seemed to freeze for a moment. The two looked at each other for a second, but then both looked away.

Lin Yi felt as if his skin had been electrocuted by the gaze, and tiny goosebumps rose on his skin. He was so nervous that he could almost hear the sound of his own blood flowing.

"You only had one glass? What kind of alcohol smells so strong?"

He paused, glanced at Lin Yi, and asked, "What caused you to start trembling?"

Lin Yi opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found his throat too dry to produce a clear sound.

All his sharp wit seemed to have no effect on Shen Beidao. He could feel his cheeks burning and even his neck turning a light red.

"It seems to be... 'Brave the World'..."

I want to travel the world with you... from the sofa in the living room to the bed in the bedroom...

Shen Beidao nodded understandingly, picked up a tissue, and wiped the stains from his mouth. "Beer helps with sleep, that's good."

"Not good." Lin Yi suddenly bit his lower lip, his teeth sinking into the soft flesh of his lips. This action made his eyes flush with a moist red, like peach blossoms wet with dew.

"What's wrong with it?" He saw the shallow indentation on Lin Yi's soft, rosy lips from being bitten by his teeth, and he suppressed a laugh as he observed him.

Lin Yi: "There are too many people, I'm not full."

Shen Beidao: "Hmm? How about we come to my place? I'll make you a midnight snack."

"Mmm." Lin Yi wasn't going to pretend anymore. He didn't want to go to that lousy park at all! He wanted to be on the sofa, in bed, in any private space on Chenbei Island...

Shen Beidao slowly retreated to the driver's seat, his posture calm, as if his aggressive approach just now was unintentional.

He stared ahead, his well-defined knuckles resting on the steering wheel. Shen Beidao caught a glimpse of his shy and obedient appearance and suddenly felt like feeding the little rabbit a blade of grass to tease it. The little rabbit might react to the stress and angrily jump into the bad human's arms.

How can we succeed?

This seems much more difficult than academic research...

...

Across from the Maybach, Du Xiaoman stared at the passenger seat through the car window.

From his perspective, Shen Beidao's action of leaning over to help Lin Yi fasten his seatbelt, due to the angle error, made their silhouettes overlap, making it look exactly like they were kissing.

Du Xiaoman's eyes instantly darkened.

He quickly took out his phone, pointed it at the other side, took several photos in a row, and then clicked send.

He looked at the "sent successfully" message on his phone screen, and a retaliatory smile curled at the corner of his mouth.