Gallic Gold
The dinner ended in a bad mood.
Until the very end, Jin Nan didn't say anything more to Xu Zhiyuan. Lin Jiaze had said it was boring when he arrived, but when the meeting was over, he didn't want to leave and dragged a few new friends to drink until they were drunk.
In the end, he was carried away by Lin Jiayi.
Jinnan was in the crowd of people returning home, and the car he called was waiting alone at the door. The driver was wearing an ill-fitting suit and smelled of cigarettes.
"Where are you going, sir?"
"Manhe."
He didn't notice that behind the crowd, Xu Zhiyuan, who had not left yet, paid close attention to his direction and frowned slightly.
A week later, some Gallic gold threads and a box of new lighters were delivered to Jin Nan's home, along with a note.
Xu Zhiyuan's handwriting.
[Smoke less, eat more, and sleep more. —Xu]
nonsense.
Jin Nan read it two or three times, then put the note away and put the cigarettes in the cabinet. He wasn't a picky person; he used whatever he had. He could handle a couple of puffs of Cohiba, and he also had a few packs of Red Wolf.
For some reason, Xu Zhiyuan loved to buy him cigarettes, especially a specific kind. He had been doing this since he found out he smoked a few years ago.
Jinnan was not picky and could not resist Xu Zhiyuan's offer. He kept it and carried it with him wherever he went, so much so that his later friends had the stereotype that he only smoked this kind of cigarette.
The items were not expensive, and Xu Zhiyuan knew Jinnan's spending habits. But Jinnan had tried to buy them himself, and found them difficult to find in China.
Xu Zhiyuan knew where he lived, and there was clearly no unusual movement. Of course, there was another possibility.
Jinnan called the housekeeping staff twice to confirm that Xu Zhiyuan had delivered cigarettes to each of his homes. An hour later, he had stacked a dozen cartons of cigarettes like Lego in the living room.
When Li Hongfang called, Jinnan's hands shook and he almost fell down.
"Master, where are you?"
"Home." Jinnan held the cigarette in his mouth without lighting it.
He wasn't picky about cigarettes, alcohol, food, or lodging; the so-called "pursuit of quality" seemed more like a required course, painstakingly accumulated hours. Xu Zhiyuan had accustomed him to a rare flavor, so much so that in the past two months without him, he'd smoked less.
Habits are a terrible thing.
"Which one?" Li Hongfang laughed. "I got some Macallan, from over 20 years old. Can you have a couple of drinks with me?"
"Now?" Jinnan looked at the bright sky outside.
Forget about going to bars and drinking, the bars might not even be open yet.
"Drinking at home, what time does it matter?" Li Hongfang said, "Would you like some snacks?"
The snacks that Li Hongfang mentioned were definitely not what Jinnan understood. Jinnan thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to your house. I'll come over."
"Lucerne Bay, want to eat tiramisu?"
Jinnan: "You cook it for me?"
Li Hongfang laughed heartily: "If you poison me to death, someone will come after me!"
Jin Nan also laughed: "I'll use you to test the poison first."
Jinnan put on a coat and went out. There was a drizzle outside and the weather was starting to get cold.
After getting in the car and turning on the heater, Jin Nan turned on the Xu Zhiyuan channel as usual. The car was filled with the sounds of flipping books, breathing, and the occasional conversation.
On a busy audit morning, Hua Lin, the legitimate head of the family, drove out of the house to go drink.
There may also be a few "appetizers".
The car passes the ring road interchange and enters Lucerne Bay through three avenues. The second "No. 1" of Lido soars into the sky, blocking the rain and fog rising from the sea.
Lido No. 1 Courtyard, even Jin Licheng says the houses here are "not worth it".
Jinnan used the license plate as an access card and went up to the 18th floor. Li Hongfang hadn't even closed the door, and a cat with a big tail was following him closely at his feet.
There was a man sitting on the sofa, smoking. When he saw Jin Nan coming, he raised his hand and greeted him.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Jin."
Li Hongfang, holding a sketching pencil in his hand, casually introduced, "This is Ke Zhuo."
No, it seems like Jinnan should know this person.
Jinnan did know him.
Last month at Paname Fall Fashion Week, Ke Zhuo served as the closing model for the blue-blood brand LCH, and her pencil-colored smoking suit dominated social media.
Jin Shao still hasn't gotten used to the situation of having a star in front of him.
He smiled at Ke Zhuo and squatted beside Li Hongfang. Li Hongfang kicked him a small stool like his own.
With just a few strokes on the paper, she sketched out simple lines of smoke and the handsome profile of a man. The collar of Ke Zhuo's shirt was almost open to his belly, but he was so dedicated that he didn't look uncomfortable at all.
"What do you want to eat for lunch?" Li Hongfang asked Jinnan.
"Wontons, shrimp dumplings, and steamed pork with rice flour." Jin Nan ordered directly, "Where's your wine? Let me have a sip."
The cat walked up to Jinnan's feet and wrapped its large tail around his ankles.
Jin Nan thought for a moment, took a picture and sent it to Lin Jiaze at work, with the caption: "Monica is being affectionate today."
Lin Jiaze replied with an emoji: "I'm going to fight you, a bunch of social parasites."
He smiled and went to pour the wine, but just as he finished adding ice to the first glass, it was taken away by a slender hand.
Ke Zhuo took a sip of wine and clinked his glasses towards him in the air: "Cheers."
"What benefits did Young Master Li offer to please you?" Jin Nan joked.
"Take me out for dinner?" Ke Zhuo said, "It's a great honor for me to see you."
Another glass of wine was poured without ice, and Li Hongfang took it away.
"How was the last painting?" Li Hongfang asked.
"It's natural for you two to order me around." Jin Nan finally poured himself a drink. "Why didn't you tell me about the exhibition?"
"I said it." Li Hongfang took two sips and finished it in one gulp.
They said it, but they didn’t inform me until the day of the exhibition.
Li Hongfang: "I heard someone took the painting away."
Two pairs of eyes glared at him, but Jinnan remained calm and pretended not to understand what they were saying.
"You're not going to give my painting to that Xu guy, are you?"
"Anyway, it's all hanging in the Jin family."
"Konami."
Jinnan looked at him. Li Hongfang was not very happy and lowered his eyebrows.
"For me, this is a dedication to art, so what's the point of giving it to him?" Li Hongfang asked in a low voice, "Giving a nude back painting to my adopted brother?"
"I don't understand." Jin Nan picked up the bottle of wine and left, and the other two had to follow him.
It was not until the afternoon that Jin Nan realized that Li Hongfang had not only obtained a bottle of such strong whiskey, but a whole truckload.
Even though Li Hongfang had improved his alcohol tolerance, Jin Nan was also drunk. He held his phone and called the driver with blurry eyes, only to find that his bodyguard Wan Bian had called him three times.
It was already an hour ago.
Jinnan called back and the call was connected after two beeps. The voice on the other end was a bit noisy.
"Mr. Jin, Mr. Xu has requested to go out."
Xu Zhiyuan's schedule is now strictly controlled by Jinnan. He is not allowed to work overtime unless he has a meeting or an activity, and urgent documents must be sent to the old house.
Whenever I need to go out without a valid reason, I have to report to Jinnan like this.
"What's wrong with him?"
This was the second time Jin Nan received such a call. The last time was to go to the airport to meet someone Jin Nan didn’t know, but Jin Nan did not agree.
The voice on the other end of the line paused, as if someone had switched hands. Soon, Xu Zhiyuan's mellow voice reached him.
"I need to go to the hospital."
Jinnan was mostly sober.
"Are you sick? Or injured? Ask your family doctor to come over. There are too many people in the hospital. You..."
"Xiaonan." Xu Zhiyuan said, "My good friend was in a car accident and is in the emergency room.
"You know him, You Yi. He's two years older than you. When you were in No. 1 Middle School, I asked him to take care of you.
"He needs help, Konan."
Xiaonan.
Xu Zhiyuan hadn't called him that for a long time. Ever since Jin Licheng brought him to Hualin to learn how to do things, Xu Zhiyuan had always called him Little Jin Zong, and later promoted him to Jin Zong.
Xiaonan, that was the name Xu Zhiyuan called Jinnan when he was in high school, referring to the name Jinnan before he was eighteen years old.
"Prepare a car for him." Jin Nan knew that the other party was on duty, so he ordered directly, "By the way, send a car to Lido No. 1 to pick me up. I will go too."
Li Hongfang was so drunk that he almost stripped himself naked. Ke Zhuo's face was also red, even more beautiful than on the catwalk, and he was still pouring more wine for Jinnan.
"Xiao Nan, can you give me a private number? I will send you the invitation to the show directly in the future. I hope you can come."
Xiaonan.
Not this voice.
"I'm leaving." Jinnan stood up and picked up his coat.
Li Hongfang pulled him aside and said, "The driver hasn't arrived yet. Sit for a while. I'll get you some hangover soup."
Jinnan leaned against the wall to sober up. Ke Zhuo, who was also drunk, approached and lowered his head to get closer to him. Before he could touch him, Li Hongfang pulled him away by the collar.
A bowl of hangover-soaking soup that had been heated up earlier was handed to Jinnan. It was neither cold nor hot, just the right temperature.
"Let me know when you get home," said Li Hongfang, who never asked Jinnan where he was going. "Remember to come try on new clothes next week."
Jin Nan finished swallowing the soup and said, "I already have a down jacket and coat."
"Spring clothes."
Ke Zhuo couldn't get a word in.
The driver arrived quickly and took Jinnan to the hospital. The traffic was heavy and congested along the way.
When they arrived at the place, two hours had passed since the phone call. Jin Nan walked into the emergency room reeking of alcohol and met Xu Zhiyuan outside the emergency room.
He was wearing very thin clothes, and it was obvious that he was in a hurry when he came out. His bony hands were clenched tightly, and his expression was focused but slightly confused.
He didn't even see Jinnan at first glance.
Jinnan walked over to him and sat down. He wanted to take off his thick coat, but Xu Zhiyuan held his hand.
"How much did you drink?"
Xu Zhiyuan worked a full day and suddenly received the bad news, and he was a little haggard. He also had to split his attention to take care of Jinnan, which made Jinnan feel uncomfortable.
"Not much." Jinnan said, "It's a social occasion."
"Konami."
Jin Nan only then realized how clumsy his lie was. What social engagements did Hua Lin have that required him to attend? Xu Zhiyuan blocked everything he could, and even went with him when he couldn't, completely ignoring his chance to grow independently.
What social engagements did he have that Xu Zhiyuan didn't know about?
Jinnan looked at the people around him. Xu Zhiyuan was dressed in black, with his shirt sleeves rolled up carelessly, and he smelled more of cigarettes than usual.
There is no doubt that he is very upset now.
Jinnan shouldn't have detained him. If Xu Zhiyuan hadn't been restricted in his movements, he would have come to the hospital earlier, and maybe Youyi could have been released earlier.
It was all Jinnan's fault. Jinnan reflected on it but did not intend to change.
He'll get the call first thing next time.
"Where are his family?" Jin Nan made small talk.
"They are all out of town and are rushing over after receiving the news."
The red light in the emergency room was on, and Jinnan felt lost amidst the clamor and the sounds of people crying. He quietly reached out, wanting to feel Xu Zhiyuan's hand to see if it was cold, but Xu Zhiyuan quickly pulled his hand back.
Cold, icy.
Jinnan took off his coat without saying a word and covered Xu Zhiyuan with it.
"I'm not cold."
"Shut up."
So annoying, why so annoying? Because Jin Nan realized that his influence on Xu Zhiyuan was only negative? Or did he hate this sudden and unexpected feeling of being out of control?
The door to the emergency room opened, and the nurse said sternly, "Who are the Youyi family members?"
"The relatives haven't arrived yet. I'm his friend." Jin Nan stood up to talk, leaving Xu Zhiyuan on the chair, in his warm coat.
The cold wind has gone away, leaving only the young master's warm kindness.
Half an hour later, the family members arrived at the scene, and Youyi cooperated by turning off the lights and moving to the room after more than ten minutes, staying in the intensive care unit for one night.
"His left leg is broken, his spleen is ruptured, and he has a slight concussion." Xu Zhiyuan was discussing the situation with You's parents. "The driver in the car with him died on the way, but You Yi's condition isn't too serious. His leg should be saved."
Xu Zhiyuan took care of everything, including determining liability for the accident, insurance, and the traffic police, wearing Jinnan's coat. Jinnan sat with You's parents outside the hospital room, wiping away his aunt and uncle's tears over and over again.
"Youyi left home to study at the age of fifteen. He had no relatives or friends in Li. If it weren't for your brother, we wouldn't dare to think about what would happen today." Aunt You's voice choked with sobs. "When Youyi gets better, our family will go to your house to kowtow. This is a life-saving grace."
"Give me the bill for the surgery just now. We will return it to Mr. Xu as soon as possible and not cause you any trouble." Mr. You also wiped his eyes.
"It's okay." Jinnan patted Aunt You's hand, "Brother You is now Zhiyuan's right-hand man. It's important that he gets better soon. The money is okay. I'll take care of the insurance afterward, so you don't have to worry about it."
"Xiao Nan... Auntie really doesn't know how to thank you." Aunt You cried even harder. There was not enough paper to wipe her tears, so she had to roll up her sleeves.
"Uncle and aunt, you are from Liancheng, right?" Jinnan said softly, "I grew up in Liancheng, we are from the same hometown."
You's mother joined in the conversation, but You's father seemed a little surprised.
Jinnan's surname is Jin, and he is Xu Zhiyuan's brother. Logically speaking, he should be the only son of Lido Hua Lin.
What is the relationship between the young master of Lido and Liancheng, a small third-tier city?
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