At nine-thirty in the evening, there were already very few pedestrians on the road.
In the small park plaza, two groups of people were currently facing off in a standoff.
“Brother Yan, it’s not that I won’t give you this face, but that street is originally our territory.
Li Guangtao doesn’t follow the rules, so blatantly trying to steal my business. Who wouldn’t be pissed off by that?”
The flat-topped man speaking revealed a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes. In the past, they hadn’t held back their forbearance just because the other side had Li Yan backing them up.
Yet now, Li Yan’s grandfather, Li Donghai, had already stepped down as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of National Defense, and his parents had been missing for many years, probably gone for good long ago.
Who didn’t know that the Li family was already starting to decline now? Why should he still care about so much?
Behind Li Yan, a man wearing bell-bottoms and dark skin was filled with fury.
“You say that street belongs to you, so it belongs to you?! That batch of cassette tapes of mine cost a huge amount of money, and now it’s completely ruined by you. Today, if you don’t give me an explanation, nobody gets off easy!”
Li Yan didn’t make a sound, as though he tacitly accepted Li Guangtao’s remarks. At this moment, he wore an impatient expression, looking as though he was about to step forward and start a fight directly.
Hiding behind a tree, An Chutang stirred slightly. If he wasn’t mistaken, that perfect man standing right at the front with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, a height of at least one hundred and eighty-eight centimeters, and facial features as rugged as a sculpture should be his life-saving target, Li Yan, without a doubt.
Regardless of whether it was the other party’s looks or that chilly temperament, it was just too damn fitting for his own aesthetic.
Someone usually extremely picky like him started experiencing a slight acceleration in his heartbeat at this moment.
His mind was completely filled with what the system had told him just before.
Skin-to-skin contact was not entirely unacceptable either, but on this late autumn evening, everyone was wrapped up so tightly from head to toe. How on earth was he supposed to make contact!
Just as he was caught between a rock and a hard place, not knowing how to make a move, Number Seven’s unhurried voice came through, “Host, a warm reminder: your life value has only three minutes remaining.”
An Chutang snapped back to his senses, seeing that the two sides over there were about to start fighting. If he didn’t make a move now, he probably wouldn’t have time!
Because of work matters, Li Yan had just had a huge argument with his grandfather, and he was already holding back a burst of anger inside. Running into this kind of trouble today, he had long since lost his patience.
The atmosphere dropped to freezing point, and Fan Jianguo was also a bit nervous, but he simply had to reclaim his dignity this time around.
Seeing that the momentum between both sides was hair-trigger close, An Chutang could no longer wait.
He took a deep breath, hardened his heart, lifted his legs, and ran straight toward the target across from him.
Li Yan’s footsteps shifted slightly as he prepared to step forward. In the flash of lightning and flint, he only felt a fragrance of grass and trees wafting over.
Then, a figure whose height reached his chin suddenly intercepted him right in front. Before he could react, he felt his hand half-wrapped in a slight chill yet soft touch.
Li Yan’s gaze darkened. Looking down, the first thing that entered his vision was a head of light brown slightly curled hair, plus a pair of peach blossom eyes suffused with autumn water gazing at him anxiously.
He couldn’t quite describe the feeling, but right after, this young man holding his hand with excessively fair skin tightened his grip and blurted out, “What are you standing around for? Run!”
The next moment, before anyone could react, An Chutang dragged the flushed-cheeked man and bolted toward a patch of woods not far away.
Don’t get me wrong, the reason his cheeks turned red was definitely not because he was holding this stranger’s hand, but because of the crystal-clear reminder in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully holding hands. Life value increased by one hour.]
“Hey! What the hell?! Brother Yan!!”
Li Guangtao was the first to snap back to reality. Watching the two of them about to vanish from his line of sight, he stomped his foot and shouted to the men behind him, “Damn it! Chase them!”
The development of events caught Fan Jianguo by surprise. Of course it was a good thing if they didn’t have to clash directly with Li Yan, but the other party just ran away like that?
Although somewhat puzzled, he still let out a sneer and yelled toward Li Guangtao’s group, “What’s this? Did they run away?!”
“Run your mom!” Li Guangtao turned back resentfully. “You just wait, Fan Jianguo! This isn’t over!”
Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the person pulling him along and running. The next moment, he jerked his hand back abruptly and came to a halt.
An Chutang only felt a chill in his palm, and he stopped with some lingering regret as he turned back.
At the same time, he also understood that constantly holding hands did not stack up the life value increases.
Hurry and catch him before the other party could speak, he acted like he was playing dumb and quickly reached out to grab that large hand again, “Don’t stop, what if we get caught?”
[Ding! Congratulations, host. Hand-holding life value increased by one hour.]
The pleasant voice had just stopped when his hand was shaken off once more.
“Do we know each other? What are you doing?”
Li Yan’s gaze was dark and heavy, his voice magnetic with a trace of danger.
Facing this man who could extend his life face-to-face once more, An Chutang still couldn’t help marveling inwardly, “So damn handsome!”
He tucked away his messy thoughts and tried to make himself sound as harmless as possible, “Don’t be afraid, I’m not a bad person. I was just strolling around, and didn’t I just see that group of people trying to beat someone up? That’s why I played the hero to save the damsel in distress and rescued you.”
After finishing, he even ungrudgingly flashed a friendly smile.
This smile, however, made Li Yan, who was usually not very close with people, blink his eyes for a moment.
Although he was always vigilant due to his living environment, and this suddenly appearing person looked suspicious everywhere from his attire to his behavior…
Facing such an overly delicate yet completely harmless smiling face, he unconsciously lowered his guard a little bit.
An Chutang watched as the other party meaningfully hooked the thin corners of his lips and teased, “So you thought I was about to get beaten up?”
“Uh…” Clearly, a definitive answer might wound the self-esteem of this man who stood a head taller than him. “Not really, after all, lose a fight and you’re hospitalized, win a fight and you go to jail, right?”
What else could he do?
He certainly couldn’t say he had no other choice and was just finding an excuse to hold his hand.
Speaking of hands…
An Chutang couldn’t control himself from stealthily aiming his gaze back at the back of the other party’s hand.
That hand was so big. The palm seemed to have a layer of light calluses, but the touch was exceptionally warm and comfortable.
If he could hold it just one more time… No, twice? Three times? Several times… would be great.
Otherwise, just tonight alone, he probably wouldn’t be able to survive!
Just now he should have just forcefully kissed him amidst the chaos, uh… that seemed a bit too unreserved, didn’t it?
Seeing him stare blankly at his hand, Li Yan always felt this person was acting a bit abnormal. “You…”
“Brother Yan!!” Li Guangtao finally chased after them with a dozen or so people.
Stopping in his tracks, he cast a suspicious glance at the unfamiliar An Chutang. “What happened? Who is this?”
With some disappointment, An Chutang withdrew his gaze and lazily raised a hand as a greeting.
Li Yan let out a scoff and rubbed the tip of his nose with his index finger. “Someone playing the hero to save the day.”
Li Guangtao felt somewhat annoyed by An Chutang’s meddling. Who looked at this guy’s vision to see that they needed him to play the hero!
“Damn it! Fan Jianguo and his gang got off easy today! But my stuff can’t be ruined in vain. He’s got to give me an explanation for this!”
“Alright…” Li Yan pulled his black jacket together and drew it tight, looking ready to say let’s disperse.
An Chutang absolutely could not let them part ways just like this. He hurriedly interrupted what the other party was about to say and turned to ask Li Guangtao, “I just heard from what you guys said that your business was ruined by the other side?
How about it? Care to tell me about it? I just came back from abroad specifically to invest. If the project is good, I’ll invest in you.”
Li Guangtao froze. Come to think of it, what he did couldn’t really be considered a business, let alone any kind of project.
To put it more bluntly, it could at best be considered profiteering through speculation, but…
“You’re an overseas Chinese? Back to invest?” He sized up this suddenly popped-up person carefully once more.
With delicate skin and tender flesh, he looked even better-looking than a woman, but no matter how one looked at his age, he seemed like he had just turned adult. His attire and demeanor carried a rather high-end air, not looking like the domestic style of dressing.
Li Guangtao hesitated and asked, “Where did you come back from? Investing in what? Where are your elders?”
Seeing him wearing an expression that treated himself like a child, An Chutang rolled his eyes speechlessly in his heart, but in order to get close to the guy named Li Yan, he had no choice but to put on a harmless smile.
“Coming over from country M. Just by myself, I can make my own decisions. I heard the state is going to change its policies, so isn’t that why I came back to invest? I just don’t have an entryway yet. How about it? Interested in having an in-depth chat?”
Li Guangtao didn’t have much scheming in him. Hearing that this was basically a pure capitalist, he instantly grew interested.
“That’s fantastic! Let’s go! Meeting is fate, let’s head over to Brother Yan’s place. I’m very familiar with that area, let’s have a good chat.”
Upon hearing this, An Chutang’s eyes instantly lit up. He looked at Li Yan with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation, just waiting for the other party to nod.
Li Yan wasn’t as easy to talk to as Li Guangtao. His grandfather was the former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of National Defense, and even though he had retired, the influence he received growing up made him much more cautious.
Normally when encountering this kind of thing, he would definitely ignore it and walk away.
However, facing An Chutang’s expectant yet completely impurity-free gaze, he subconsciously rubbed his fingertips. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke up, “Let’s go back first and talk.”
(Life Countdown: 1 hour 50 minutes)