Yuan Ye’s house was located very far from the city center. He really couldn’t understand why he lived in such a remote place, having to get up very early every day to rush into the city, otherwise there would be traffic jams, causing a lot of inconvenience and wasting a lot of time. For someone like him who had many dinner banquets and returned home very late, it was even more inconvenient. Li Sheng had a hundred doubts, but finally, when opening the door and entering the house, he still spoke up: “The house is really nice, decorated with a lot of taste.”
Yuan Ye smiled and didn’t speak. The house was ninety-something square meters in total, the walls were only scraped with white lime, the sofa was made of fabric, and the television was simply hung on a bare wall. He really didn’t know what aspect Li Sheng’s so-called taste was manifested in.
To be honest, when Li Sheng opened the door and entered the house, he couldn’t help feeling a bit surprised. This didn’t look like a house that someone of this status would buy, but the kitchen utensils here were complete with everything. None of the things were brand new, and at a glance, it was obvious they were used frequently, yet there were no women’s items in the house. Li Sheng knew that Yuan Ye must often cook and eat at home, which inevitably made him look at this high-and-mighty person with a new level of respect.
Yuan Ye invited Li Sheng to sit down and poured him a cup of warm water: “A new cup, you’re the first guest.”
Li Sheng guessed how much credibility Yuan Ye’s words had, and still smiled as he took the cup: “You don’t like inviting guests to your home?”
Yuan Ye walked toward the bathroom: “Neither of my parents has ever been to this house. Every time they or friends come, I take them to another property. Usually, I live right here.”
“No wonder. You live so far away, is it convenient every day?”
Yuan Ye washed his hands, took the fruits out of the refrigerator one by one, weighed out the portion for two people, and rinsed them in the sink again: “Convenient. I get up at four-thirty every morning, eat breakfast, tidy up, and leave the house around five-thirty. I arrive at the company just past six o’clock, so there’s no congestion. It’s the same every day.”
“If you got drunk the day before, or were busy with work and slept very late, the next day is still like this?”
Yuan Ye curved the corners of his lips. Li Sheng guessed that he had probably just washed his face; the tips of his hair were wet, clinging to his clean face, making the whole person look much gentler: “I don’t get drunk. The only one who gets drunk is Du Yu. I never drink with clients.”
Li Sheng was stunned, feeling that Yuan Ye was mostly lying. The person who had just been at the wine table—how could he not drink wine now? As if coming to clear up Li Sheng’s doubts, Yuan Ye smiled and said: “I didn’t treat you as a client. Go wash your hands and eat some fruit before sleeping. You might not feel too comfortable after drinking.”
For some reason, upon hearing Yuan Ye’s words, Li Sheng automatically stood up. When the warm water moistened his cheeks, he suddenly snapped awake. This feeling was too familiar; he shouldn’t feel that anything was amiss. Li Sheng stared wide-eyed through the mirror, telling himself that the person outside the door was not Wei Heng.
When Li Sheng walked out of the bathroom, Yuan Ye had already changed into home clothes and handed a set to Li Sheng as well: “You can take a comfortable shower before sleeping.”
Li Sheng nodded, took the clothes, and sat aside. Looking at the fruit Yuan Ye handed over, neatly cut and arranged on a dinner plate, he asked: “I’ve never heard my older brother mention you.”
Yuan Ye nodded: “Your brother often mentions you to me, saying you’re the most worrying person in this family, only knowing how to be busy with work all day long, never knowing to go home and look around. Whenever you’re busy it’s till late at night, often running on continuous cycles. Your brother, truly, really feels heartache for you.”
Li Sheng took a bite of an apple. The crisp texture somehow made his heart feel very comfortable: “My brother is just that kind of person, usually not fond of smiling, with a bitter expression on his face, acting with a military posture toward everyone. But in front of me, he really treats me like a child. I’m thirty years old, and he still buys me gifts.”
“Yeah, your family members are all very good people. If this time you don’t plan to cooperate with me, when you go solo on your own, you can come find me at any time. With me, I can satisfy all your needs.”
Li Sheng smiled, finished the last bite of the apple, and headed toward the bathroom holding his pajamas: “How come it feels like you’re a year younger than me yet acting like my family elder?”
Yuan Ye didn’t answer. He watched Li Sheng’s lean back walk into the bathroom and lightly close the door. He could clearly imagine Li Sheng’s resilient skin; he didn’t look like a thirty-year-old man at all, but rather extremely like a young guy in his twenties, making him unable to resist glancing a few more times.
Although Yuan Ye’s house had a guest bedroom, because he had never even thought of inviting anyone to spend the night, the space for a guest bedroom simply didn’t exist. The entire house only had one bedroom. Although putting two men on a two-meter bed wasn’t a problem, Li Sheng still didn’t quite know what to say. He increasingly regretted agreeing to the proposal to stay the night at Yuan Ye’s place. In his imagination, it surely must have been a super large house allowing him to freely choose a guest bedroom, but who would have thought Yuan Ye actually lived in a place so unfitting for his status? Anyone who didn’t know better would think Yuan Ye was burdened with heavy debts.