“Zong Xian, big brother,” Gu Wen said, gently stroking Zong Xian’s lap. The more he touched, the more he felt that the texture underneath was quite wrong. Even with all his self-restraint, he couldn’t help sweating with awkwardness, yet he still had to force a natural tone, “Will you tell me?”
Zong Xian grabbed Gu Wen’s restless palm into his own, and with a force as if he were about to snap his wrist, he bent it forcefully in the usual direction: “Since you could hear my phone call, you should know that I’m only helping you out of consideration for the Zong family’s face.”
“But, big brother, you are already down there,” Gu Wen bit his lip nervously.
“You have the nerve to ask me after the good deed you pulled off yourself?” Zong Xian let go of his hand, and instead leaned his lips close to Gu Wen’s ear, “If you want me to like you that much, show me some real skill yourself. I don’t fall for your clumsy and cheap tricks.”
Gu Wen watched the other person quickly retreat from his side, leaning and sitting at the other end of the car window with a vast chasm separating the middle.
Once the system is in a woken state, it reminds him of the aversion value fluctuations at any time, but Gu Wen didn’t hear any movement in his mind.
He deliberately leaned closer to the other person and asked, “Where are you going next?”
Zong Xian had no intention of hiding it and unreservedly blurted out the name of a high-end restaurant.
Memories related to Yan Guanbai suddenly surfaced in Gu Wen’s mind. The original host had once sneaked into Zong Xian’s business dinner and even hands-on groped Zong Xian publicly, ever since which Zong Xian never looked at Yan Guanbai straight in the eye again.
He tried to get hint information from the system: [Which private room is Zong Xian having dinner in? And with whom?]
The system detailed the location information. The time was set for 7:00 PM, and the dinner guests, besides Zong Xian, were members of the Jiang family.
The provided content even clearly explained whether the dishes would be served with contact or without contact. The private rooms usually had a fixed one to two waitstaff dedicated to service.
Gu Wen continued to test the system’s functions, asking if it could provide him with a set of restaurant waitstaff attire.
System: [Alright, Host. I’m more than happy to be at your service.]
Gu Wen returned to the villa and opened the wardrobe in his room. A new Chinese-style women’s outfit resembling a qipao abruptly came into his field of vision.
[Host, the waitstaff attire you requested has been delivered.]
Gu Wen remained silent in front of the wardrobe for quite a long time. [Is this the set I had in mind?]
[Yes, Host. Waitstaff of both genders at this high-end Chinese restaurant dress like this. The fashion concept in this world is relatively avant-garde.]
“Ah, well.” Fine, let’s just say he was relatively old-fashioned.
Gu Wen bit the bullet and changed into the dress. Before he entered the restaurant, the system activated an invisible to others buff for him, ensuring no one would find it abnormal when he mixed into the waitstaff’s breakroom; he simply seemed like a regular colleague on duty.
Even the dish-serving duties for Zong Xian’s private room were handed over to Gu Wen by the manager with the system’s help, with a special instruction that there were VIPs inside, so he better be careful.
Gu Wen carried the appetizer in both hands and followed the hallway to find the private room where Zong Xian was. Another waitstaff was stationed near the door to provide timely service to the VIPs inside.
The waitstaff at the door opened the door for Gu Wen. Zong Xian happened to be seated close to the door. Gu Wen deliberately served the dishes near him and, as he left, pretended it was accidental when he brushed against the other’s arm.
Gu Wen stepped back out from the doorway and had just reached the public restroom at the end of the hall when he felt someone grab his arm and forcefully shove him into the men’s room.
The restroom door was slammed shut. Gu Wen turned around to meet Zong Xian’s gaze.
“I didn’t fall for this trick before, and I won’t now either,” Zong Xian blocked Gu Wen’s path with his arm. “Or did you think you could use this opportunity to meet other rich people?”
“No, I didn’t. Like I said, I only like Zong Xian-ge. I didn’t even touch anyone else just now.” Under the system’s buff, Gu Wen spoke with exceptional sincerity.
“Is that so?” Zong Xian looked him up and down with considerable interest. “Prove it to me.”
Gu Wen held back his thoughts for a good moment, reached his hand into Zong Xian’s suit jacket, hugged him tightly, and rubbed his palms against his back: “I like you, Zong Xian-ge.”
“Is that all?” Zong Xian’s expression showed neither joy nor anger.
Gu Wen couldn’t help but pause. He loosened his hands, went to untie the frog buttons at the collar of his dress, and soon a patch of fair skin was revealed: “I’m only showing you.”
Zong Xian pressed down on the other person’s hand, which was attempting to continue its movement. It was truly amusing: his face was as hot as if he had a fever, yet he still insisted on showing off right in front of him.
He actually had the impulse to bite Yan Guanbai’s collarbone and leave a bright red tooth mark.
Realizing he was having such thoughts, Zong Xian instantly grew irritated. He buttoned the frog buttons back up for the other person. “Do what you’re supposed to do, and stop playing tricks.”
Gu Wen watched Zong Xian leave the restroom, unable to figure out the other’s attitude.
He headed to the back kitchen to continue his work as a waiter, but the manager stopped him, stating that the VIP had specifically come to notify a change of personnel and told Gu Wen to take a break for the night.
Gu Wen couldn’t help but freeze in place for a second; no matter how he thought about it, this had to be Zong Xian’s doing.
With a greatly improved mood, he checked the system and found that the current aversion value was at 48 percent, a 2 percent drop from his last check.
Gu Wen almost twisted his expression into a knot. Having bustled about for most of the night, he was unwilling to return empty-handed with zero results, so he simply waited near the private room, looking for an opportunity to cause more trouble for Zong Xian.
With just a door separating them, Zong Xian’s negotiation with the Jiang family was drawing to a close. The others left one after another, leaving only Zong Xian sitting at the dining table, downing the better part of a bottle of high-proof liquor in one go.
Yan Guanbai appeared in his mind with increasing frequency, and he thoroughly hated the feeling.
The waitstaff’s dress suited Yan Guanbai very well. The neo-Chinese dress was closer to modern styles, his long legs were wrapped in white over-the-knee socks, and his ankles were so slender they seemed like they could snap easily.
The other person wasn’t wearing those everyday square-rimmed glasses, forcing Zong Xian to meet a pair of gorgeous peach-blossom eyes without any barriers, paired with shoulder-length hair left unbundled, giving off an ambiguous beauty that blurred the lines between male and female.
This wasn’t the Yan Guanbai from Zong Xian’s past memories.
He chugged the remaining half bottle of wine as well. Before the alcohol went to his head, he fished out his phone and called his driver to pick him up.
However, due to an operational error, it was Gu Wen’s phone outside the door that rang.
Gu Wen subconsciously glanced at it. It was a new WeChat message from Zong Xian telling him to come pick him up.
He pushed open the door to the private room openly and saw Zong Xian leaning against the edge of the dining table in a daze.
Gu Wen subconsciously walked closer and called out to him. Zong Xian turned his face to look at him; apart from slow reactions, Gu Wen couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“Are we heading back?” Gu Wen reached his hand out to him.
Zong Xian ignored him. Gu Wen waited and persuaded him on the side, completely out of ideas, and finally ended up forcibly dragging the person out the door.
He frequently moved equipment in the lab, so he still had basic physical strength, such as half-supporting and half-carrying an adult male down the stairs and shoving him into a car.
“Are you drunk?” Worried that Zong Xian might collapse, Gu Wen held onto him the whole way in the back seat.
“I asked the driver to pick me up,” Zong Xian spoke slower than usual, “not you.”
“Isn’t the driver driving right now?” Gu Wen almost chuckled softly. At this moment, Zong Xian was noticeably lacking his usual aggressiveness. “Are you alright?”
“I don’t want to see you. Get out of the car.” Zong Xian attempted to break free from Gu Wen’s embrace, only to be pressed down even tighter by the latter. “Stop being unreasonable. Living under the same roof, you’re going to see me sooner or later anyway.”
Perhaps due to a mental giving-up, or because the drunk person truly lacked the strength to fight back, Zong Xian stopped moving and quietly leaned against Gu Wen’s embrace, though he steadfastly refused to raise his head to look at the other’s face.
When the car parked at the entrance of the villa, Gu Wen brought the alcohol-soaked Zong Xian back to his room. Zong Xian lived on the second floor of the villa, an area rarely frequented by others.
Gu Wen was still wearing the waitstaff dress. The moment he helped Zong Xian onto the bed, the latter raised a hand and tugged at his hem. “Change out of these clothes.”
“Oh, really?” Gu Wen was utterly speechless. Where did all these demands come from? Being this drunk and still caring about what clothes he wore.
Too lazy to entangle himself with Zong Xian, he simply and honestly went to change clothes. Gu Wen had specifically brought a bag to work containing his everyday clothes, planning to change right after his shift ended, but because of the earlier unexpected events, he hadn’t remembered it until now.
Without thinking too much, for convenience, he began stripping off his clothes right there. He had just pulled off the white over-the-knee sock from his left leg when he heard the movement of Zong Xian rolling over and getting out of bed.
He subconsciously threw a thin jacket over himself and hurriedly went to stop Zong Xian, who was walking out the door. In such a groggy state, what if he took a wrong turn and cracked his skull?
“Zong Xian-ge?” Gu Wen chased after him from the doorway, and in his haste, his foot banged against the doorframe, eliciting an involuntary gasp of pain. Whether Zong Xian would crack his skull, he didn’t know, but he had managed to injure his own foot first.
Hearing the commotion behind him, Zong Xian paused slightly in his steps without turning his head, and slowly walked forward out of Gu Wen’s field of vision.
Gu Wen let out an imperceptible sigh, returned to Zong Xian’s room to rub his foot, put his clothes back on properly, and tied his hair up. [System, help me check where Zong Xian went.]
When Zong Xian woke up in the guest bedroom, it was already past 10:00 AM, a full two hours later than his usual time to return to the company.
He propped his body up and leaned against the headboard; the towel on his forehead slipped off, and when he touched it, it had already turned cold. Yan Guanbai was sitting right beside his bed, slumped over the bedside seemingly asleep, dressed in ordinary attire with his hair tied up.
An empty bowl sat on the bedside table. Zong Xian picked it up and sniffed it. It was hangover soup.
His body felt very refreshed, lacking the stickiness and alcohol odor that should have been there, as if someone had cleaned him up.
He didn’t wake Yan Guanbai up, instead watching the back of his head for a good while. Seeming to sense his movement, the other person slowly woke up from the bed, stretched lazily, and greeted him, “Zong Xian-ge, is anything feeling uncomfortable?”
“No, I’m fine.” Zong Xian’s tone was very light, as if he were afraid of startling someone who had just finished sleeping and wasn’t fully awake yet. “Didn’t go back to sleep?”
“Must’ve been too tired, fell asleep without realizing it, but it doesn’t feel bad, though.” Gu Wen tidied his hair, threw the thin jacket from the bedside over his shoulders, and was about to leave when Zong Xian called out his name.
“Yan Guanbai, come back here.”
Gu Wen turned back, meeting Zong Xian’s gaze.
“Your foot. Let me see.”