Chapter 03
The man was very thin, with a deeply sunken collarbone.
For a man over 5'7", his frame was rather thin. While others dressed up to look fashionable in bars and clubs, this man wore a simple tracksuit, with baggy sleeves and trousers. If Lin Shengwen hadn't known the club's strict age checks, he would have almost thought he was underage.
The man couldn't hold on to Lin Shengwen's arms and was about to slide to the ground. Lin Shengwen held him steady and tried to use himself as a frame to help him stand.
"Are you okay?" Lin Shengwen asked him.
The man nodded, then shook his head. His eyes were dull, and he spoke haltingly with a lisp. It was obvious that he had drunk too much. "It's okay, it's okay."
The corridor was dimly lit, and Lin Shengwen only then noticed that his face was flushed. The large circles around his eyes were tinged with red, and the teardrop mole was also immersed in this red glow, extending from his eyes to his cheekbones, along his temples to his ears, and all the way down to his thin neck. His skin was very fair, causing the red to flow like liquid dye under a thin layer of skin.
His facial features weren't particularly delicate, and his body was quite average; he couldn't be classified as a beauty at all. Yet, Lin Shengwen unexpectedly sensed a hint of... sexiness in him.
Lin Shengwen thought that it was probably just that the smell of alcohol on the man's breath was too strong, which gave him an illusion.
Lin Shengwen asked him, "Shall we get a car to take you home?"
In reality, Lin Shengwen was very clear about the distinctions. Even when he occasionally showed concern for others, it was usually out of courtesy rather than genuine feelings. He was somewhat aware of his own abnormality, but subconsciously ignored his keen sense of awareness.
The next second, Lin Shengwen saw the man raise his eyelids and meet Lin Shengwen's gaze. His eyelids were very red and his eyes were extremely moist, as if they were about to break through the orbital septum and flow out of the water in the next second. He blinked, stared at Lin Shengwen for a while, then suddenly stood up and shook off Lin Shengwen's gentlemanly hand that was supporting him.
"I told you it's okay!" He said angrily, as if he couldn't stand steadily, and leaned against the wall. He glared at Lin Shengwen with a bad look, his eyes unclear. "Don't worry about me, just do whatever you want."
Lin Shengwen hadn't expected the other person's reaction to be this—utterly ungrateful. He paused briefly, then calmly withdrew his arm from its awkward position in mid-air. He smiled and said, "Okay." Lin Shengwen wasn't one to meddle in other people's affairs, so he naturally accepted the other person's words and respected their choice.
So he left without looking back and slipped into the box at the end of the corridor.
The large private room was sparsely populated. Xu Yiming, Pei Ning, and two others who seemed to be Xu Yiming's guests flanked him, one on each side. A man and a woman, both very pretty, bore a striking resemblance to each other. Lin Shengwen glanced at them and noticed their lips were similar, their corners slightly raised, making them seem like they were smiling even when they weren't. He guessed they were artists from Xu Yiming's company; they looked familiar, but he didn't usually watch TV dramas or variety shows, so it was difficult for him to remember celebrities' names, let alone lesser-known artists.
Pei Ning, on the other hand, was completely alone. He clutched a matte-black wireless microphone, singing into a screen—Xu Yiming's bar had a top-of-the-line karaoke system in its private room, but it was a shame to use it as Pei Ning's practice room. Pei Ning was tone-deaf, a poor singer, but he loved to sing, his voice no different from the howling of ghosts and wolves, a sheer torture to those around him.
Lin Shengwen sat down on the sofa, pointed at Pei Ning who was singing, and asked Xu Yiming: "How long has he been singing?"
"No more, no less than half an hour," Xu Yiming said, asking the beautiful actress on his left to go to the other side. He raised his hand and raised the wine glass in his hand, "Want some?"
He had just finished speaking when he suddenly remembered, "Oh, I forgot you don't drink." Xu Yiming patted the male idol's shoulder and said, "Go call the phone on the wall and ask the waiter to get some orange juice." He tilted his head and asked Lin Shengwen, "Is orange juice okay?"
Lin Shengwen nodded, then gestured to hold down the male artist and said, "Let me do it."
"Okay." Xu Yiming smiled.
He and Lin Shengwen had known each other for quite some time, and he was very familiar with Lin Shengwen's temperament: he didn't like to trouble others, and he certainly had the ability not to. This group of playboys only came to Lin Shengwen for help, and Lin Shengwen had never asked them for anything in all these years.
Lin Shengwen stood up, walked to the wall of the box in three or two steps, and took down the receiver hanging on the wall.
"Hello, bring me a glass of sugar-free orange juice."
Lin Shengwen hesitated for two seconds, then whispered to the waiter on the receiver.
"Excuse me, there's a drunk man in the corridor leading from the booths outside to the private rooms inside. Could you please call a taxi to take him home?"
He finished his instructions and quickly hung the phone back on the wall. Within two minutes, the waiter brought in the orange juice he had ordered and informed Lin Shengwen that he had arranged a ride home for the gentleman outside. Lin Shengwen thanked him and then turned back to ask Xu Yiming.
"Have you agreed to a divorce?"
"Yeah." Xu Yiming responded with a calm expression, as if marriage and divorce were as common to him as drinking coffee in the morning.
Pei Ning sang eleven songs in a row and finally decided to take a break. He sat down next to Lin Shengwen, grabbed the orange juice in front of him and drank most of it in one gulp.
"Xu Yiming's been divorced for a week!" Pei Ning said, glancing at Xu Yiming. "You've been married to Baosteel's daughter for six months, how many times have you met?"
Xu Yiming remained silent and ignored Pei Ning's sarcasm.
Pei Ning said with a bitter face: "My family is urging me to go on a blind date again. I'm so fed up. Lin Shengwen is still the best. Don't your parents urge you?"
"I'm busy with work at the hospital and don't have much time to visit them." Lin Shengwen gave a correct answer.
"I can't rush you." Xu Yiming smiled and expressed the implication of Lin Shengwen's words.
Lin Shengwen lowered his eyes: "It's not that no one is urging me."
Xu Yiming glanced at Lin Shengwen in the not-so-bright light in the club box. He seemed to have guessed the reason and tactfully stopped asking.
Pei Ning's eyes rolled and he clapped his hands. "By the way, you told me you were looking for Liang Xun. Are you planning to buy a property?" Pei Ning finished speaking and tilted his head to explain to Xu Yiming, "I have a high school classmate who's now working as a real estate agent. Lin Shengwen just asked me for that classmate's contact information."
"Oh?" Xu Yiming raised his eyebrows, seeming to be interested.
Lin Shengwen sighed and had to briefly explain that his landlord wanted to give the house to their children as a wedding house.
"I want to buy an apartment for myself and I'd like to ask him for help in recommending it." Lin Shengwen thought for a moment and then said, "Pei Ning always mentioned this person before."
"It's easier to trust acquaintances of acquaintances." Lin Shengwen said softly.
Pei Ning opened his mouth and said, "Then you have found the right person. I promise that Liang Xun will do his best to find you a house, and I guarantee you will be satisfied."
In fact, what Pei Ning didn’t know was that Liang Xun had not been a real estate agent for many years.
Liang Xun was from Kang Prefecture, and it was a coincidence that he came to Ting City in the north.
As a child, he considered himself unsuitable for studying. However, he performed exceptionally well in the high school entrance exam and was admitted to Kangfu No. 2 Middle School. It was then that he met Pei Ning.
I did work hard during my three years of high school, but my college entrance exam results were still very average.
His mother borrowed money from everywhere and enrolled him in a college affiliated with Ting University in Ting City, so at least he could go to college. During his four years at college, Liang Xun accumulated enough credits through his regular grades and attendance to receive his diploma.
After graduation, I joined Mingsheng Real Estate.
Liang Xun was so happy the day he got the job that he called his mother and told her that he would stay in Ting City to work.
Mingsheng Real Estate started out in Ting City. It is a fairly large real estate developer in China and is involved in all real estate-related businesses.
When Liang Xun first joined the company, he was indeed working as a real estate agent. After completing his orientation, he was assigned to a small branch in the Third Ring Road area. Most of his clients were renters, not buyers.
Later, he was transferred to a store in the first ring road and found that although there were a large number of customers renting houses from people who already lived in the first ring road, some customers had rented houses for several years and saved enough money for the down payment, and most of them would still choose to buy a house.
Liang Xun didn't quite understand at the time.
While having lunch with a colleague at a nearby cafeteria, he was told by a colleague, "After wandering for so long and having the financial means to do so, many people still want a place to truly belong." Seeing his blank expression, the colleague asked, "Don't you want a house of your own?"
"Haha, even if you want it, you need money. I don't have that kind of savings." Liang Xun scratched his hair awkwardly, only then realizing that his bangs were a little long. He should cut them himself in the evening.
Liang Xun worked as a real estate agent for less than three years before he was promoted and transferred to a small management position in the real estate development department.
It sounds good, but the real job involves overseeing renovation projects at various buildings. Working day and night is a busy process, and being dusty and dusty is understandable, but exhaustion is unbearable. Supervisors never rest; every step must be closely monitored.
Sometimes he has to socialize, and what Liang Xun doesn't understand the most is that he still has to socialize.
That day, they had a meal with people from a new building materials company. After finishing the seafood buffet, someone suggested continuing the meal.
The owner of the building materials company, named Chen Guangquan, had a beer belly held up by his belt. He suggested, "Should I go to that new bar over on Jinlu Road for a drink?"
"Okay, okay," someone chimed in, "We haven't been there yet. Boss Chen should take the lead."
Liang Xun doesn't drink much, but in this kind of atmosphere, he didn't want to spoil everyone's fun, so he just agreed with a few words. He never thought that he would be set up by this Boss Chen.
A group of people occupied a large booth. Liang Xun selected a mojito from the menu, which appeared to have the lowest alcohol content. He drank it slowly, fearing he would overdo it and get dizzy.
Chen Guangquan's explicit eyes were about to stare at him. Liang Xun was no longer a naive schoolboy. Even if he had never eaten pork, he had at least seen pigs run.
——What's more, Liang Xun likes men.
He started having a crush on Lin Shengwen twelve years ago.
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