It was dark in the emergency passage.
The sweater soaked in red wine was heavy, and it completely tangled the underwear underneath, making it stick to the body in a mess.
The coldness penetrated into the body bit by bit through the pores, freezing the heart.
Li Yu'an fumbled around in his pockets with the help of the weak indicator light.
He took out the cigarettes and lighter he carried with him, pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, trying to get a little strength to numb himself.
The cigarette butt had already been pointed at the lighter, but his fingers were limp due to trembling, and he couldn't light it.
"..."
With a pile of grievances filling his heart, Li Yu'an muttered jokingly, "Why are you bullying me too?"
He gritted his teeth in disbelief and pressed the switch of the lighter.
——Whoosh!
The flame suddenly jumped up, but failed to light the cigarette butt, and instead burned his fingers.
"Hiss!"
The lighter fell to the ground, and the door of the emergency passage opened again.
Yan Cen, who had captured this scene accurately, quickly approached, a trace of anxiety
flashed through his lens, "Are you okay? Did you burn your fingers?" Li Yu'an's heartstrings, which had not relaxed to begin with, tightened again, and he lowered his head to avoid his gaze, "No."
Yan Cen saw that Li Yu'an was on the verge of collapse, and grabbed his right hand anxiously, "Let me see."
Li Yu'an was like a frightened bird, and lost control and interrupted Yan Cen's concern, "I said it's okay! Don't touch me!"
Silence suddenly fell.
"..."
The emotions that shouldn't have erupted were vented on the most inappropriate person.
Li Yu'an realized this and stopped breathing, like a child who had done something wrong, "Sorry, Mr. Yan, I want to be alone for a while."
He was too tired, too tired to maintain that ridiculous dignity in front of the object of his secret love.
Yan Cen met Li Yu'an's faintly red eyes. He always knew how to speak, but he found himself dumb, with all his emotions stuck in his chest - he
was concerned and distressed, but he had no identity and no position to comfort him.
Li Yu'an knew that he had become a big joke, but he still wanted to hide it. He didn't dare to look Yan Cen in the eye, and avoided leaving, and happened to pass by Pei Yi who rushed over.
Yan Cen followed him two steps involuntarily, and was stopped by Pei Yi who rushed over when he reached the door of the safety passage.
"Boss Yan, you are the only one who is not suitable to go." Yan
Cen was startled, "What?"
Pei Yi looked at the direction where Li Yu'an left, and said to Bo Yueming beside him, "How about this, I will follow him, second brother, you guys find a place to sit first, I will contact you later."
Bo Yueming vaguely understood something, "Be careful, contact me anytime if you have anything."
"Okay."
Pei Yi was afraid of losing Li Yu'an, so he chased after him without wasting any more time.
Yan Cen was about to catch up when he was stopped by his friend on the same side, "Yan Cen, we are late."
"Why?"
"Do you have any social interaction with Little Boss Li besides work? In what capacity are you going to catch up?" Bo Yueming asked pointedly.
"..."
Yan Cen was blocked, and a little unhappy rose in his heart, but this emotion was not directed at Bo Yueming, but at himself.
It was all his fault that he thought he was a gentleman and politely "stopped at the right time" in the past two months, and immediately stopped his "offensive" when he saw that Li Yu'an was unwilling.
Now he wanted to go up to comfort him, but he couldn't find a suitable identity and reason.
Bo Yueming patted his shoulders twice, "Take your time."
Yan Cen didn't respond, but he had to admit in his heart that
to this day, he did have a kind of affection for Li Yu'an that went beyond that of a partner, which he couldn't deny.
...
Half an hour later.
In a small quiet bar not far from "Hao Du", the specific dim environment seemed to absorb all emotions.
Li Yu'an was communicating and drinking alone until the bottle was empty again. He was just about to ask the waiter to continue, and a brand new bottle of unopened whiskey was placed in front of him.
"If you drink this wine too fast, you'll get drunk."
"..."
Li Yu'an suppressed the drunkenness in his eyes, looked up and saw the face of the person who came, "A place like a bar is not for a little fool like you."
Pei Yi in front of him opened the bottle and slowly poured him another glass, "What time is it, you still care about me?"
Li Yu'an heard the overly normal way of speaking of the person in front of him, and laughed out loud, "Then do you want to drink?"
"No, I'll drink one glass."
Li Yu'an drank it all by himself, without forcing the other party to drink with him.
The bitter wine went down his throat, and his heart was even more bitter.
Li Yu'an's cold and indifferent eyes were blurred with a ruddy mist, which was aggrieved and painful, "I always thought that she was blaming me."
Blaming him for not matching the bone marrow transplant, blaming him for being a child but unable to save his biological father.
Pei Yi in front of him did not speak, but quietly poured him another glass of wine, very considerate.
Li Yu'an continued to speak slowly, "I told myself that she was indifferent to me because she was sick and could not control her negative emotions."
But in the end, everything was not what he thought. It turned out that his and Pei Huan's life stories had been reversed from the beginning. In
recent years, Pei Huan was still the young master of the Pei family who had no worries about food and clothing. He could complete his studies smoothly, and then have his own career under the arrangement of his family. He was praised and praised wherever he went.
He was forced to drop out of school and take over the nearly bankrupt Dawn Game without knowing anything. He then had to change his major and take care of the company and his family. The cold eyes and ridicule of life were commonplace! Li
Yu'an drank one glass of whiskey after another.
However, the pain in his heart did not subside as he got drunk. His dusty memories kept opening up.
"Pei Yi, do you know?"
"When I was a sophomore, I participated in an online simulated investment competition. In more than three months, I made it to the top ten out of four or five hundred participating students."
But on the day when he finished writing the last round of practical investment plans, Li Xiao still couldn't survive in the hospital and passed away unexpectedly.
As the only son in the family, Li Yu'an could only bite the bullet and complete the funeral.
At that time, Dawn Games was facing bankruptcy. In order not to default on employee wages, Li Xiao privately owed a lot of money during his lifetime.
"The time when I chose to drop out of school was when my family needed money the most."
Li Yu'an paused for a long time and told the past that was suppressed in his heart, "One day, my mother suddenly took my investment plan and said that someone wanted to buy it."
"Five hundred thousand, as long as I keep it a secret, but she doesn't know how valuable the online investment competition is."
As long as he can enter the top three, Li Yu'an can enter the world's top financial investment company during the internship period without recruitment, and he can use his own strength to stand on the award podium with Yan Cen!
But there is no other way, money can solve the urgent problem, he agreed.
Pei Yi suddenly asked, "Did you get the money?"
Li Yu'an shook his head, not daring to think deeply, "My mother handled it for me, I should use it to pay off my debts."
He only knew that after the final ranking and the project report were made public, he saw everything that originally belonged to him on Pei Huan's column. No one knew
how excited he was when he saw Yan Cen again after nearly five years?
But the other party didn't remember him at all, whom he had met once before graduation, and only remembered Pei Huan who took over from him and stood on the award podium that year.
"..."
Li Yu'an sometimes felt that he was rotten and bad.
He was jealous of Pei Huan, jealous that Pei Huan could be remembered by Yan Cen, jealous that Pei Huan could spend money to buy his achievements, and even more jealous that Pei Huan could stand with Yan Cen openly.
But no matter how jealous he was, he dared not cross the line, dared not speak out the truth and feelings of the year.
Because he personally promised to give it up.
He was willing to make sacrifices for his family, for his mother, and for the company, but now An Yang put the facts in front of him-
it turned out that Pei Huan took away his life! No, not "take", but "steal"!
If their identities were swapped back sooner, would he be able to avoid so many grievances and bitterness?
Would he have more courage to stand in front of Yan Cen, openly say that he liked her, and start pursuing her?
But now it's useless to say anything. Obviously, he is the most painful, but he is also the one who is least valued.
Li Yu'an's mind was in a mess, he cried and laughed, laughed and cried.
Under the influence of alcohol, he finally couldn't resist the double fatigue of body and mind, and buried his head on the table.
Pei Yi, who was accompanying him, stopped and immediately put the remaining half bottle of whiskey under the table.
He thought of Bo Yueming and Yan Cen who were still waiting for news, and immediately picked up his mobile phone to send WeChat.
Soon, the two people who were waiting outside rushed over.
Yan Cen, the leader, had his eyes fixed on Li Yu'an from the moment he found him, and his worry was beyond words.
"How much did he drink?"
"Less than a bottle and a half of Vique. Let's leave here first, so as not to attract other people's attention."
Yan Cen was worried about Li Yu'an's physical and mental condition, and answered without thinking, "Yes, my car is parked outside."
Pei Yi tried to wake him up, "Yu'an?"
The drunken Li Yu'an groaned, closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa in the booth. He felt dizzy and his stomach was burning.
"Don't call him, I'll carry him out."
Yan Cen took the initiative to ask for help. His first thought was to hug him horizontally, but this was a public place after all, and he was afraid that Li Yu'an would be too proud to cooperate while half asleep.
Li Yu'an, who was dizzy from the drunkenness, felt that his body suddenly floated into the air, and in the blink of an eye, he landed on a broad and strong back.
The familiar light fragrance of tea leaves penetrated into his nose, as if splitting a clear path through the chaotic drunkenness.
An inexplicable bitterness condensed in Li Yu'an's heart. He didn't care whether what he saw was an illusion or reality, and his hands involuntarily clasped together.
"Senior."
"..." A
simple title, containing countless grievances, made Yan Cen stunned and sad.
Obviously, he always called him "Mr. Yan" when facing him, but in the end, a simple title could break a person's defense.
Li Yu'an on his back seemed to be accustomed to not getting a response, and the emotions magnified by alcohol became more bitter and aggrieved. "Senior."
He called more cautiously than the first time.
Yan Cen confirmed the crying tone in the low murmur, tilted his head and whispered softly, "Don't cry, I'm here."
...
...
It was three days later when Li Yu'an arrived at GM again.
He stood at the front desk in a trance, looking at the sky outside the window, until he came to his senses when he heard the footsteps of high heels.
Yan Cen's assistant Shen Na came over, "Mr. Li, our Mr. Yan is free now, please come in with me."
Li Yu'an nodded slightly, "Thank you."
The two of them walked through the office lobby and soon arrived at the executive director's office at the innermost part.
Yan Cen was sitting at the desk, his eyes fell steadily on his face, "Mr. Li."
Li Yu'an took a deep breath without leaving a trace, "Hello, Mr. Yan."
Shen Na retreated with great tact.
Yan Cen stood up and walked to the small water bar, "Mr. Li, please sit down first. I just asked Assistant Shen to make some scented tea. Would you like some?"
Li Yu'an did not argue, but sat on the sofa politely and properly.
Three days had passed since the birthday party.
That day, he learned the "bloody" truth in public. Not only did he reject Yan Cen's private concern in the corridor, but he also got drunk in the bar.
When he woke up the next day, he was actually living in the Bo family villa.
Later, Li Yu'an learned clearly that his partner behind the scenes, Will, was actually Pei Yi, the young master of the Pei family who had been "pretending to be crazy and stupid".
The other party saw that he was not in a good state that day and was afraid that he would get into trouble after being drunk, so he took him back home to settle down.
Li Yu'an glanced at Yan Cen, still trying to recall the remaining fragments of that day.
His alcohol tolerance is average, but he was really drunk last time, and the memory he could keep is almost zero.
Pei Yi said that it was Yan Cen who carried him back to the car.
In a brief recollection, Yan Cen had already brought over the fragrant flower tea, "Here, this flower tea smells sweet, but it's not greasy to drink, you should like it."
Li Yuan took it, "Thank you."
Yan Cen looked at his face politely and restrainedly, "Are you feeling better?"
"..."
Li Yuan was stunned, not wanting to reveal his thoughts easily, "Nothing, that night... Sorry to bother President Yan."
Yan Cen heard his usual cold tone and didn't care, "Mr. Li, is there something important that you came to see me for? It can't be just to say thank you, right?"
Li Yuan's expression was filled with uncertainty, "I came here for something serious."
Yan Cen smiled to ease his restraint, "Just say it."
Li Yuan didn't hesitate any longer, He said the words he had considered countless times in his heart, "Mr. Yan, it's like this, we YWY want to change the investment target of the project."
The original YWY studio was built on the basis of Dawn Games, but now there is a ridiculous thing of "wrong background", coupled with An Yang's favoritism and protection for Pei Huan, so Li Yu'an has to pay more attention to it -
after all, YWY studio is not his alone, and the "End of Fog" project is not his own hard work!
In case An Yang wants to transfer the shares of Dawn Games to Pei Huan in the future, he must ensure that YWY and its projects are not disturbed or occupied!
This is the result of Li Yu'an and Pei Yi's discussion, and naturally they need to communicate with their investors, that is, the senior management of GM.
Li Yu'an recounted the whole story to Yan Cen, hiding a hint of helplessness, "I'm really sorry for making such a request because of my family's private affairs."
He had no other choice at the moment.
If An Yang was willing to give him a little bit of real concern, Li Yu'an would not be willing to do things so drastically.
After listening to this, Yan Cen nodded, "This is not difficult. GM's original investment targets are YWY Studio and the "End of Mist" game team. As long as the assets of your studio and Dawn Games can be separated, it won't be difficult for us to handle it."
Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you."
Yan Cen glanced at his watch, "Mr. Li, is there anything else to do later?"
"Huh?"
"It's almost time to get off work. Can I make up for the meal I didn't treat you to last time?" "
..."
Li Yuan didn't expect Yan Cen to still remember something from such a long time ago. He wanted to refuse, but he was afraid that he would appear to be disrespectful, after all, the other person had just agreed to a work request. What's more,
last time in the stairwell, he couldn't even control his emotions and "accidentally hurt" the other person who came with good intentions.
After all, he had been enough of a bother to Yan Cen, whether in business or personal matters. Even if
we take a step back, Li Yu'an used to be afraid of losing his composure and embarrassment in front of Yan Cen, but now, his most vicious and useless side has already been seen by the other party!
What could be worse than that?
Perhaps with a broken jar mentality, Li Yu'an nodded half a beat slowly, "I'm free, but I'll treat Mr. Yan tonight."
Yan Cen seized the opportunity, "Who treats whom, we'll talk about it later."
"Okay."
Li Yu'an stood up, and then remembered something and said awkwardly, "Mr. Yan, I, I didn't drive today."
He still remembered the unexpected encounter in college that year. Before Yan Cen left, he told him a sentence-
"Don't drive if you don't feel well in the future. If you really have to drive, you have to be careful."
Li Yu'an always remembered Yan Cen's casual concern. He knew that his condition in the past two days was not good, so he was
obedient and didn't drive there. A glimmer flashed in Yan Cen's eyes, which was exactly what he wanted at this time, but he pretended to be gentle and indifferent.
"It's okay, just take my car."
...
The two drove to the restaurant that they didn't eat at last time.
While waiting for the food, Li Yu'an gently stirred the lemon slices in the glass with a straw, restraining his eyes from wandering.
Although he looked calm on the surface, his heart was not necessarily relaxed. Apart from his work identity, he still didn't know how to get along with Yan Cen.
"We are not in the company now, you don't have to treat me as 'President Yan'." Yan Cen, who was opposite him, took the initiative to break the subtle silence.
"Huh?"
Li Yu'an subconsciously raised his eyes and met Yan Cen's gaze.
Yan Cen continued to control the initiative of this conversation, "I actually thought before, maybe I offended you unintentionally, making you very reluctant to contact me outside of work."
"In the few times we met, I could sense your nervousness or caution. To be honest, I never thought that I looked fierce and evil, which would make people stay away from me."
"..."
Li Yu'an's eyes widened slightly, revealing a different kind of surprise.
He didn't think that his cautiousness in front of Yan Cen would give the other party such an almost absurd illusion.
Yan Cen continued, "Then I thought, maybe you are born with a cold temper, and you don't want to have any private contact with your business partners, so you repeatedly rejected my dinner requests."
Li Yu'an hesitated, "No, no, I..."
Yan Cen smiled slightly, interrupting his unnecessary explanation, "But I found out a few days ago that the fact seems not to be the case."
After all, the unconscious "senior" revealed full trust and dependence, which is not the reaction of a cold-tempered person.
Yan Cen said with a hint of tentativeness, "Are you very concerned about having unexpected situations in front of me, junior brother?"
Li Yu'an was stunned by the word "junior", and he didn't dare to answer Yan Cen's almost straightforward analysis.
He lowered his head and took two sips of lemonade through the straw, but the complex taste of sweet and sour made him cough and his face turned red physiologically.
Yan Cen chuckled and handed him a tissue, and continued to ask in a joking tone, "Or, did you pay attention to me in school before?"
Because he paid attention to me before, he cares about the image. This is a very common desire for victory and defeat among men.
"No."
Li Yu'an denied it flatly and found a suitable and correct reason, "However, President Yan's reputation in the college is so great that it's not surprising that I heard of him at the beginning, but there is nothing else."
Yan Cen pushed his glasses lightly and murmured, "Just that?"
If possible, he certainly hoped that he would be "special" to Li Yu'an, but since the other party said no, he shouldn't "believe it" and continue to ask.
After all, people should not stop at the past, but should focus on the future.
Li Yu'an didn't know what Yan Cen really thought in his heart. The blush on his face faded slowly, and he planned to change the topic that could reveal something at any time.
"Boss Yan, I..."
As soon as she called him, Yan Cen on the other side took the initiative again, "Wait."
"We are no longer in the company, and we haven't talked about work. Can we change our relationship a little bit?"
"Hmm?"
Li Yu'an hummed uncertainly, with a hint of cute confusion in his eyes.
The smile in Yan Cen's eyes deepened, and he said calmly, "From now on, can't we be friends?"