From quite a distance away, Yu Cheng could already hear the laughter and chatter of that group of wealthy merchants and socialites. Occasionally, a few vague words drifted over, presumably discussing Song Fewan’s high-and-mighty young master at home.
It was not until the spotlight inside the venue came on that the crowd successively gathered toward the inner hall.
A charity auction was also a segment of this evening’s banquet. The give-and-take in the vanity fair always liked to find an excuse that sounded refined and tasteful.
Pei Yan was quite interested in this. “Aren’t you going inside to take a look?”
Yu Cheng answered crisply, “Not going.”
Pei Yan immediately guessed Yu Cheng’s thoughts. “Rest assured, I heard Chu Hanfeng is too busy tonight and isn’t planning to come.”
Yu Cheng paused for a moment.
Pei Yan said, “However, Mrs. Chu’s reputation is even more useful than Chu Hanfeng’s. Everyone who came this time are relatives and friends on good terms with Song Fewan. I even added WeChat with quite a few people, and it seems one of them is even some distant relative of the Chu family.”
Yu Cheng gestured a thumbs-up to Pei Yan to express encouragement.
Pei Yan was thoroughly satisfied. “They deserve to be rich. I only chatted for ten-odd minutes, and in an instant, I had an epiphany that I truly shouldn’t confine myself to small night clubs. I must have grander dreams.”
Yu Cheng really didn’t want to listen anymore to Pei Yan’s bold declarations reminiscent of making a small goal of one hundred million. He decisively chased the person away, leaving himself alone on the terrace for some peace and quiet.
It wasn’t that he had any opinions about Song Fewan; examining his conscience, his impression of Song Fewan had always been quite good.
It was just that, after all, this person was Chu Hanfeng’s relative, so they shouldn’t get too close.
Subconsciously, he didn’t want to get tangled up in any relationship with Chu Hanfeng.
His current dream was just to be well-fed, well-hydrated, and sleep well; he didn’t have many thoughts about anything else for the time being.
Hearing that Chu Hanfeng wouldn’t come, he finally didn’t need to be on guard everywhere. Yu Cheng’s heart, which had been hanging the whole time, finally landed solidly, and even the desserts and skewers right by his mouth smelled more than a little better than before.
Leaning his back against the chair, Yu Cheng ate and drank while starting to browse his phone.
The people he followed on his Weibo alt account weren’t many, so clicking in straightaway brought up system-recommended posts.
During this period, he had no mind to care what messy things were happening in the circle again. What met his eyes right now was entirely some celebrity tax evasion, and someone even dug up hookups with fans. Photos and videos auto-played, making Yu Cheng wear a look of utter disgust as he casually swiped downward.
Without any warning, a pitiful and delicate face came into view.
In the livestream, Tong Shi’s eyes were red, as if tears were about to gush out the next second. “My previous conflict with Yu Cheng was my fault to begin with. At the annual banquet, I said very harsh words to him, which is why he got angry. Besides, he never hit me; those rumors should not be spread around blindly from now on.”
It was a screen recording.
The accompanying text frantically complained whether Tong Shi had been possessed by a ghost or if Yu Cheng’s backing was too massive, otherwise how could Tong Shi possibly say such words out of nowhere.
The comments were basically split into two factions:
[Tong Shi, if you’ve been kidnapped, blink twice. We don’t have to suffer this kind of grievance!]
[I feel that way too. How could anyone flare up for no reason in a public setting? There definitely was a reason. Before this, public opinion was completely one-sided, so someone was probably stirring up trouble.]
Yu Cheng: “?”
Simply absurd.
Was the world ending tomorrow or was someone holding a gun to the back of Tong Shi’s head, otherwise how could this person have a sudden change of heart and utter this set of words?
As for being possessed or whatever, the expression and tone were still as punchable as ever, so that shouldn’t be the case.
Yu Cheng was utterly baffled and wanted to ask Sun Can what on earth was going on here.
Abruptly, the light source beside him dimmed.
Catching a glimpse of the corner of the newcomer’s overcoat, Yu Cheng shifted his gaze upward and met a smiling face. The man’s tone was gentle and refined, “I think you look a bit familiar. Was that gentleman just now your boyfriend?”
It took Yu Cheng quite a while to react to the fact that the person was asking about Pei Yan. The two words “not really” had already reached his throat.
Not far behind him, a light and low sentence suddenly rang out: “Why didn’t Director Liang go to the banquet hall to join in the lively bustle?”
This voice was extremely faint and carried a trace of cold, sharp chilliness. Yu Cheng was too familiar with it; his expression changed instantly, as if struck by lightning.
Who the person behind him was went without saying.
It was Chu Hanfeng’s voice.
Even though his expression was still dazed, Yu Cheng’s mind was already spinning a hundred times over.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I going to do?
His body stiffened, and he didn’t dare to look back. In a flash, he sprang up from his seat intending to make a run for it!
Who would have thought the other person was even quicker than him, grabbing the back of his collar and dragging him back down into his seat?
Why was this person starting to get physical?
Struggling for a moment, Yu Cheng was pressed back down by his shoulders. He really couldn’t figure out where this person had popped out from, and for no good reason, he suddenly grew somewhat irritated. Their gazes collided: “Don’t touch me!”
Didn’t you say you were busy?
Was it that he had pissed the person off again somewhere, and they were here to retaliate?
Yu Cheng was like a frightened bird, blurting it out; during his struggle, there was even a hint of sternness and severity to his tone. Instantly, even the bystander who had stepped forward to chat was dumbfounded, forgetting to reply to Chu Hanfeng. His gaze lingered between the two men before him for three or four seconds, only feeling that the atmosphere had a sort of indescribable eeriness, with even the air freezing over.
Judging from Chu Hanfeng’s complexion alone, Yu Cheng’s reaction had also exceeded his expectations.
He watched with his own eyes as Yu Cheng looked resistant and brushed his hand away, resistant to the extent that even those clear-colored eyes of his emitted a chilly texture, guardedly and cautiously narrowing a fraction, gazing at him without moving an inch.
Like an extremely aggressive, bristling cat.
Chu Hanfeng stared at Yu Cheng’s face. His already cold and handsome facial contours grew even sharper with his tightly pursed thin lips, the outer corners of his eyes pulling into a shallow line due to the slight narrowing, exuding a sharp, gloomy aura as if sliced by a blade edge.
Yet it lasted only for a single instant.
Chu Hanfeng’s gaze shifted slightly, landing the line of sight in the direction of the third person who had kept silent.
This sort of look carried a certain extremely subtle implication.
A naturally dominant beast naturally carved out its territory, always issuing an overwhelming warning to intruders coveting its prey, while sharp claws lay in wait, concealed beneath that light and breezy, indifferent mask.
This almost gave the other person an illusion that he was the latecomer who had unintentionally wandered into a forbidden zone, disturbing an atmosphere that ought to have been peaceful, harmonious, and congenial.
It was just that outsiders all rumored Chu Hanfeng to be indifferent by nature, seemingly nothing able to catch the eye of this illustrious and aloof young master with such a distinguished family background, coupled with that rare and excellent appearance, making him like the moon in the sky.
No one failed to yearn to share half an inch of radiance, yet no one was able to completely pluck and monopolize the moon.
He seemed to have mistaken the person. Only after Chu Hanfeng shifted his gaze over did he wake up as from a dream, his heart churning as he haphazardly pulled together a reason to leave.
Absolute silence.
Noticing that apart from the waiters and security personnel stationed at the banquet hall entrance, only he and Chu Hanfeng were left in this corner of the terrace, Yu Cheng swallowed lightly. His jawline presented a profound sharpness quite different from usual due to being tensed too tightly, and even his teeth were bitten together without leaving a single gap.
His sense of rejection toward the person in front of him was exposed completely to view, unable to break away because he was cornered in the nook.
He was trapped between the table and chairs, but Chu Hanfeng didn’t show the slightest intention of moving his feet.
Actually, although Chu Hanfeng looked slender, he excelled in having a tall frame, and differing from that kind of unhealthy thinness, thanks to good lifestyle habits, this person actually had substance.
As long as he took off his clothes, one could see the well-proportioned and smooth muscle lines on his body; one fraction less would feel frail, one fraction more would fail to match that coldly detached face, with bones sharp and clear-cut to just the right degree.
Some time ago, Chu Hanfeng’s fleeting shot in a newly released suspense crime-investigation film, featuring a blood-stained white shirt soaked through by seawater along with wet hair and a battle-worn makeup style, drove a crowd of fans into shrieking fits.
This image came to mind at a rather inopportune time.
Yu Cheng casually used his hand to brush the stray locks of hair at his temple, avoiding Chu Hanfeng’s gaze, and muttered softly, “Long time no see, you scared me.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help raising his head slightly to check Chu Hanfeng’s reaction, failing to figure out what Chu Hanfeng was trying to do here.
As the saying goes, those who understand the times are outstanding. Having experienced the taste of ending up in a tragic conclusion due to willful behavior, Yu Cheng knew this point deep down.
Therefore, he had to force himself to rein in all the thorns all over his body. Pondering for a short while, even his shoulders drooped unwillingly, and he simply faced Chu Hanfeng, sitting solidly back down in the soft and comfortable chair while putting on a calm and composed posture.
For a full several tens of seconds, it remained frighteningly quiet between them.
Until Chu Hanfeng habitually sneered, his voice as cold and indifferent as ever: “It hasn’t been that long, really.”
Yu Cheng was stunned for a moment, then rubbed the bridge of his nose and flattered, “True, last time we met we didn’t even get a chance to chat a couple of words. Congratulations on the big star’s new movie refreshing box office records.”
Yu Cheng swore to heaven that he spoke these words with absolute sincerity.
Yet once they entered another person’s ears, they inexplicably took on a few extra shades of sarcasm.
Especially since this other person happened to be the big star himself.
Chu Hanfeng looked at Yu Cheng meaningfully for a few extra seconds.
This look made Yu Cheng feel entirely ill at ease, and alarm bells rang wildly in his brain.
The next instant, he saw Chu Hanfeng unblushingly reveal the mockery in his eyes, his handsome and sharp facial contours looking exceptionally bleak and cool under the illumination of the sidelong light and shadow.
What was wrong with this?
Had he pissed the person off again?
Chu Hanfeng was truly extremely difficult to serve. Yu Cheng couldn’t help suspecting how on earth he had managed to survive until now after previously throwing himself tirelessly under this person’s nose day in and day out.
Thinking it over, Yu Cheng explained, “Besides, everyone said you were busy, so I thought you wouldn’t come.”
Chu Hanfeng still knitted his brows, showing no sign whatsoever of being smoothed down: “And this is your reason for wearing my clothes and wandering around everywhere?”
Yu Cheng: “?”
What clothes?
Whose clothes?
Yu Cheng subconsciously lowered his head to appraise his own attire, finally focusing his attention on this rather ill-fitting suit jacket on his body.
This kind of unlabelled custom-made ready-to-wear garment had always been tailored to measure; he had already thought of this point back when Pei Yan was chattering away.
Although Yu Cheng never had a clear understanding of his own clothing items, and quite a few had even been ruthlessly forgotten in the corner of his wardrobe without being worn a single time after removing the tags,
this jacket was something Sun Can helped him pack up before he brought it back from his dorm apartment. It really made no sense for a stranger’s clothes to appear out of thin air in his own room.
Yu Cheng bit the bullet and spoke up, “The nation’s male god really knows how to joke.”
As a result, Chu Hanfeng replied indifferently: “What, did it become yours just because you stripped it off my body?”
Yu Cheng: “???”
Words carrying this sort of hooligan-like implication rushed straight to his primordial spirit, hitting Yu Cheng completely off guard. His mouth reacted faster than his brain: “Who stripped your clothes?”
“You tell me?”
Chu Hanfeng’s dark, gloomy gaze appeared obscure and unclear in the night. Afterwards, God knows what he remembered, but a short and vague laugh came out from his nostrils, and he scoffed: “Yu Cheng, did you really suffer a total blackout from drinking or are you intentionally playing dumb? You almost beat someone up and even got filmed and uploaded online, causing a massive uproar. Who do you think sent you back at that time?”
Yu Cheng was completely dumbfounded, his brain blank.
He had actually asked Sun Can about this matter after the fact, but that fellow told him he had offended Tong Shi and directly kicked his chair away to leave. By the time Sun Can got word and rushed to the scene, he had already bolted without a trace.
Based on the situation later when Sun Can came looking for him at the apartment, Yu Cheng had always tacitly assumed that he should have headed straight back after getting drunk.
Yet suddenly being subjected to such cold sarcasm by Chu Hanfeng, he began to harbor huge doubts about his own perception.
Acting on a whim, Yu Cheng lowered his head in silence and began flipping through the recent call logs on his phone.
The moment he saw Chu Hanfeng’s name, his eyes widened involuntarily.
The long string of outgoing calls had all been rejected by the other party, and the timing was also locked in just right, precisely shortly after his dispute with Tong Shi.
“I…”
Yu Cheng spoke the honest truth: “I really don’t remember.”
His alcohol tolerance truly wasn’t good, but he hadn’t expected it could drift to this degree.
Before Chu Hanfeng could call him to account, Yu Cheng decided to strike first: “I didn’t mean anything else that day, I was just drunk.”
Chu Hanfeng didn’t respond.
Yu Cheng asked, “Did we happen to run into each other? Didn’t you not pick up the phone?”
Chu Hanfeng stared at him for a long time, abruptly a cold smile floating up at the corner of his mouth.
He took Yu Cheng’s phone and, under Yu Cheng’s unprepared and shocked gaze, tapped open WeChat to find himself.
As his fingertips touched lightly, one of the voice messages played back through the earpiece.
“Ge, I’m uncomfortable.”
Perhaps because neither of them was speaking, that soft and gentle voice drifted seamlessly and with utmost clarity straight into Yu Cheng’s ears amidst the faint quiet.
It was his own voice.
Yu Cheng: “???”
Damn!
How fucking sickening!